What Happens Next?
by VampLover98
Summary: This story starts up the day after the night at the cabin. The Strigoi never attacked, so Dimitri was never turned. This is my version of What Happens Next? *Sorry for the crappy summary! Please read!*
1. Chapter 1: Afterwards

**AN: Hey everybody! I hope you all like my story! I actually came up with this story last night at 11:30, when I was supposed to be asleep! It just came across my mind and then I couldn't get it out of my mind! I had to keep planning and planning until I told myself to sleep. I had such a great plan, I was so excited when I finally got it down on paper! (I can't use a laptop in school ****)**

Chapter 1: Afterwards

RPOV:

I wake up in Dimitri's arms. He had offered to do the rounds in my building last night.

He had checked my room last, as I had asked him to when we were walking back from the cabin.

While I was asleep, I had dreamt of what happened at the cabin, and again in my room once he had told everyone else to go to bed.

When I look up, he is staring at me.

"See something you like, Comrade?" I tease him.

"Yup. I see a lot that I like."

"You wanna see more?"

"You know we can't. I'd like to, but we can't. and besides, I've got to go. We don't want anyone to get suspicious."

"Yeah, I guess." I say dejectedly. "I love you."

"I love you too, my Roza."

I watch as he walks away. Mostly just his butt, his hot, hot, butt.

He turns around, catching me stare at him. He smiles and shakes his head, exasperatedly.

I start getting ready for practice. I keep my hair down, just the way I know he likes it. My outfit is, admittedly, a little unpractical for practice, but I know Dimitri will love it. Who knows? Maybe we'll continue last night's activities.

As I leave, I run into Lissa returning to her room.

"Where have you been all night? You're still wearing yesterday's clothes."

"I was with Christian. His roommate was with his family, so he invited me over."

"So what happened? No wait, let me guess." I pretend to channel my mind reading powers, without, of course, actually reading her mind. I really don't want to see what happened last night between the two of them. I think the only reason I didn't get sucked into her head is because I was busy with my own activities. "You… hung out all night playing games, and then you slept together."

"You're half right, but we never played any games. Shouldn't you go to practice? You don't want Dimitri getting mad, do you? And why are you wearing skinny jeans and a _very_ low cut tank. And why don't you have your hair up?"

"Umm… because… you know how I dress. I hate wearing sweats. And I don't think Dimitri will mind if I'm a little late. Actually, I might. Gotta go!" I say as I wave while running towards the gym. The emotions coming through the bond are confused, and if I read her thoughts, I bet I would be hearing something along the lines of "we'll talk later".

I get to the gym right on time. The moment he sees my outfit, he stops whatever he was doing and stares. "Hey, Comrade. See something you like?"

"Why are you wearing that?" he asks. He doesn't mean it, since he's still looking at me. I struggle to find an answer that he won't look down upon, thinking I have a sick mind, which I do, and he knows it, but I don't want him to know what I actually want. "Umm, I want to practice in these clothes in case I ever have to fight after I go to a party… or something."

He smiles at me. "I think you just want to practice something else."

"No. Never." I deny jokingly.

"Oh, Roza. Practices are just for practicing. Haven't I told you that already?"

"Yeah, but, I was hoping, that maybe…."

"Rose, what am I going to do with you?" He gives me a quick kiss, and then; "on to practicing."

I groan. "Come on, Comrade. Can't we skip one practice?"

"No, Rose. We need to practice." He says and then gives me another quick kiss. But, before he has the chance to pull away, I deepen the kiss. I tangle my hands in his hair, which he never put up, before sliding my hands down his chest, under his shirt. Then I trail them up and down his chest, getting lower every time I go down.

"Roza." He moans. I smile. Then he picks me up and carries me over to the wall, so I can wrap my legs around him. I quickly try to take his shirt off, but he stops me.

I pout at him. "What?"

"Pretend we've been practicing. Quick!" he says nervously. He must have heard someone coming, which, now that I think of it, I hear someone coming, also.

"Alright. What were we gonna be practicing today?"

"We were gonna do some more with staking. Go grab the practice stake!"

"Got it." I run to get the stake, get it, and stab a dummy just as Alberta walks in.

"Good morning, Guardian Petrov. Is there anything you need?" Dimitri asks politely. If I had to talk to her right now, I know I could not be that pleasant to her.

"No. I just wanted to see how far Rose has come in her training. Just continue on, doing whatever you were doing before I came in."

_I don't think she wants to know what we were doing right before she came in. _I think to myself, shooting a quick glance at Dimitri, smiling a mischievous smile.

"Alright. Well. Let's see your staking, Rose." I show it to him proudly, thinking I did a good job, for it being hurried, with me barely looking at it. "Well, this is a good job. You've come a long way, Rose. Although, it is kind of crooked at the entry. Also, you need to move it over a bit to the left. If that had been a Strigoi, he would still be alive, and you would be lacking a stake."

"Oh come on. He would be dead, or at least to injured to fight much. I mean, it was a silver stake, right next to the heart. How bad could it have been?"

"Because, you would think it dead, and it would look dead, but as soon as you take the stake out, or it falls out, then he could come up behind you and kill you!"

"Alright. No need to get all emotional like that. I'll try again, and this time I'll kill it for good."

"Just try it." He says, acting exasperated, and so I do. I stake another dummy, this time getting it's "heart".

He comes over, examines my staking, and approves of it. "This is a great job. He would be dead by now, if he were real, that is."

Practice continues on like that, me staking, him criticizing, sometimes with Alberta joining in, until it's over. Alberta then leaves after approving of my progress. "You've come a long way, Rose. You could probably join in with your classmates while they practice staking."

"I can? That's great! I always feel left out when they practice staking. I always have to leave the room. Or maybe, on that day, I wouldn't have to go to class. I hate that. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Rose." She laughs at my enthusiasm. Gotta go, today I have to supervise the junior novices."

When she has been gone for a few minutes, I run at Dimitri. "I finally get to practice with the novices all the time! You are a great teacher, you know. You taught me everything I know." I say seductively.

Then he kisses me, a goodbye kiss. "Go change, Rose. You don't want to wear that all day, do you?"

"Well, if I get the chance to see you, I want to."

"But you don't want guys falling all over you, do you? Go, and don't put on a low shirt. I don't want you getting date offers right in front of me."

"Jealous, are we? Wait… you're gonna be the one of the guardians in all my classes?"

"No, just most of your classes. We don't want people to get suspicious, what with me following you around all day."

"I guess you're right. Speaking of suspicious, do you think I can tell Lissa about us? I ran into her this morning and she noticed I was acting weird. I have to explain it to her. **(AN: I forget when she actually told Lissa. Don't kill me if she already has!)**

"Of course. I believe we can trust Lissa. I don't know her as good as you do, but she's your best friend. She deserves to know."

"Yay! Thank you! Now I can tell her the truth. I'm so glad I don't have to keep us a secret from her anymore. I love you, Comrade."

"My name's not Comrade. And I love you too." Then he kisses me, the actual goodbye kiss, until later, of course. "Go change. It's almost time for class."

"Alright." I say as I walk out the door. When I'm almost to my dorm, I feel Lissa patiently waiting on my bed. I sigh and walk faster.

"Hey, Lissa. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you to get back so I can quiz you on why you were acting so weird this morning. I openly told you when I got a boyfriend, why didn't you?"

"How you know I have a boyfriend?" I ask, curiously.

"You don't think I've noticed the change in you ever since a bit after we got back here? It's been kind of obvious, becoming more prominent the more we've been here. Now, who is it?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I change. Now shoo!" I change as quickly as possible, wanting to tell Lissa immediately. "Alright, come in." I yell through the door, since I feel her presence.

She comes in demanding, "who is it? tell me all about him. No, wait, give me hints. Let me guess."

"You know him, he isn't in our grade, he is older than me. That help you?"

"Hmm. Nick?"

"No. Eww."

"Is it Henry?"

"Uh, no." I say, appalled that she would think I like him.

"You won't guess. Let me tell you. It's Dimitri."

"Dimitri, as in Guardian Belikov, Dimitri?"

"Yes. What other Dimitri is there?"

"True. And now I get why you wore that outfit this morning. But why today? Why are you just starting to wear stuff like…" she trails off. "You didn't!"

"Yes, last night, after he took me away because I let the darkness control me. He took me to the cabin in the wood that we went to when Tasha was here. He got me calmed down, then it just, happened. We had sex."

"Oh my gosh! You guys are perfect for each other! Even though his personality is a lot different then yours. Why did you wait to tell me this now?"

"Yeah, well. And we didn't want anyone to find out. I know you wouldn't tell, and so did he, but we didn't want anyone to overhear. Please, don't tell Christian. I know it's a lot to ask, but please, don't."

"Don't worry. I won't blow your secret. Now come on, let's get to class."

The rest of the day flew by in a series of me going to class, looking for Dimitri in the group of guardians, being disappointed when he's not there.

At the end of the day, near the end of my practice with Dimitri, he asked me a surprising question.

"Did you tell Lissa?"

"Yes. Why?"

"She requested permission to go to the mall with you and Christian, with me as your guardian."

"Hmm. She did look proud of herself during school, I guess this is her way of getting us to double date."

"Does Christian know?"

"I asked her not to tell him."

"Well, then, this isn't going to be much of a double date, then, unless we tell him."

"Do you think we should? I really don't want to disappoint Lissa."

"I think we should. I mean, Lissa obviously trusts him, and so why not?"

"Awesome. When is this 'double date'?"

"We leave at 8:00."

"Cool. Let me go get dressed."

"Nothing to flashy", he reminded me as I walk out the door. I pretend not to hear him and walk out, already planning what would be the most provocative, while still not being to "flashy".

Luckily, I don't have to plan, since Lissa was outside of the gym, waiting for me. "So, did Dimitri tell you?"

"Yeah, and I can't wait. I just need some help with my wardrobe choices."

"That's where I come in. I came to help you pick out the perfect outfit."

"Thank you, Lissa. I can't wait. Oh, and did you tell Christian?"

"No, darn. For this to work out he needs to know, doesn't he?"

"Yeah. But don't worry. We talked it over, and we decided that since you're the closest to him, you should decide whether or not we tell him."

"I think you can trust him. We'll tell him tonight, driving to the mall. Now, what to wear?" by this point, we had gotten to my room. She had started looking through my wardrobe while we were talking.

She pulls out a short, red dress. "Put this on." She commanded. When I came out, she said, "nice, but a bit to formal. I don't think we want you in a dress. How about this?" she pulled out a pair of white skinny jeans and a really nice tee. I put it on, and again Lissa denied it. This time it was too casual. When she pulled out a black denim mini and a white and black plaid top, I knew it would be perfect. When I put it on, she confirmed as much.

Then came the shoes. I tried on at least ten pairs. Finally, she told me to put on my black 1 ½ in. heels with lacing. "You look perfect! Now let me do your hair and makeup." By now I was getting exasperated, but I went along with it.

When she was done, she spun me around so I could see myself. I gasped. She had put on silvery eye shadow, black eyeliner, and black mascara on with an expert hand. She then did my hair. When I saw my reflection, I barely recognized myself. I had straightened hair with a black flower in it, and I looked beautiful. Liss gave me a lip gloss to put on right before we meet the guys, and to carry around with me all night.

A half hour later, at 7:45, Lissa came to pick me up before meeting the guys. I put on my lip gloss, and when we got to them, they were both staring at us. Lissa was wearing a pale green top with white jeans, and I was wearing my skirt and top. She had put more effort into me than herself. I guess she wanted to make my first date with Dimitri special.

Dimitri recovered first. He told us to get in the car. I sat up front, next to him, while Christian and Lissa sat behind us. She had told Christian about me and Dimitri while she was getting dressed, so Christian wasn't surprised that I had come along.

After much cuddling at the mall, we came back to school. Lissa and Christian went off in one direction, while I stay with Dimitri. "So… what happens next?"

"What do you want to happen?"

"I say we go up to your room for the night."

"Rose-" but I cut him off before he can say anymore. I attack his lips. He pushes me off. "Not here Rose."

"So we can go somewhere else?"

"No. Not tonight. I'm sorry, Rose." I pout, giving him no choice but to give in. he looks like he resists as long as possible, but he can't say no to me. "Fine, Rose. We can go up to my room."

"Yay!" I cheer quietly. I follow him into his room, and we start the night's activities.

**AN: How could I? I made Rose and Dimitri almost get caught. Anywhosit, what did you think? Should I keep updating? And I'm having a contest. I'm going to be putting something in almost every chapter of this story. If you review and tell me, you will get a virtual hug! You can't of course answer this until chapter two comes up, but I think you need to know! I need at least 10 reviews to update! And I like this story way better than my other story, so this one will most likely be updated more often. Tell me your opinion! The button is right there!**

**DISCLAMER: I don't own not a single word of VA. *goes off the be alone in the corner.* Then everyone hears : "Why! Why can't I own you, Dimitri? Life just isn't fair." Coming from that corner.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Great Graduation

**AN: All of the chapters are RPOV unless I specify otherwise. Just thought you would like to know. I love you all! Everyone who reviewed loved it! Speaking of, I need at least ten reviews to update! The only reason I'm giving you this is because I may not have made it perfectly clear: I NEED 10 REVIEWS TO UPDATE!**

**On with the story!**

Chapter 2: A Great Graduation

Three months have gone by in much the same fashion. Lissa, Christian, or I would ask to go out with the others with Dimitri as our guardian. One time, last month, Dimitri had told me that he didn't like how the only way we could go on dates was with Lissa and Christian.

_Flashback:_

_I had convinced Dimitri to sleep with me again, but I could tell that he was holding back._

"_What's wrong, Dimitri?" I ask nervously, hoping it's not something like him not loving me anymore._

"_I just hate that we can't have a normal relationship. It's not like I don't appreciate everything Lissa and Christian have done for us, but I wish I could take you out and have it be just us."_

_I sigh in relief. "Don't worry, Comrade. Graduation is in a month. Then we can get away from all the rules. Maybe we can even go to Russia and see your family. I'd really like to meet them."_

_As soon as I say that, his face lights up. I know he's been missing his family, which is why I offered it. "Are you sure?"_

"_Yes, I'm sure. I know you miss them, so I want us to be where you're happiest."_

"_Thank you, Roza." This time, it is him who wants to continue what we were doing._

_End flashback._

So graduation is today, and Lissa woke me up extra early so we can get ready. She knows something, I can tell. She keeps repeating the alphabet in her head to keep me from reading her thoughts.

"Lissa, why do we have to get up at 6 when graduation is at 11?"

"Graduating from high school is one of the biggest things in life."

I can tell it's not the truth by the way she says it, but for why, I don't know, so I go along with it.

She takes out the black dress we bought last night – just us, no guys – and tells me to put it on. Once I do she does my makeup and tames my hair. I don't know why I couldn't do my own hair and makeup, but she insisted.

When I see myself, I gasp. My dress hugs all the right curves and stops two inches above my knees. My makeup consists of smoky eye shadow, black eyeliner, mascara, and pink lip gloss. My hair has somehow been pulled into a silky side ponytail.

And when I see the clock in the reflection, I gasp again. It reads 9:15. How is Lissa going to get ready in an hour and fifteen minutes when it took me three hours?

But, when I see her, my fears go unanswered. "You know, I still don't know why you're so excited." I try.

"You'll see!" she says in a sing-song voice.

We get there, and even though it starts at 11, everyone is already there, except for a few others. I see my mother waiting for graduation to begin; she must be here with her charge, though I do not see Lord Szelsky anywhere. Oh well.

Thirty minutes later, graduation started. First, Kirova read the list of novices and moroi who graduated, and gave them their diplomas. Then, Alberta read out which novice got assigned to what moroi. I actually got Lissa! The whole ceremony took five hours.

Afterwards, Lissa threw a party for all of her friends that graduated. During that party my mother and some guy pulled me aside.

"Rose, there is someone I want you to meet." My mom said. "Rose, this is Abe Mazur. He is your father."

I stare at them in disbelief. "Yeah. So, you're telling me that my father, who has been absent throughout my life, suddenly felt the urge to see his daughter's graduation when he hasn't even felt the inclination to visit me, tell me who he is, or why I never knew him?"

"Yes, Rose. And I'm his guardian."

"And the reason why you never met me is because we thought it would be best for you. I have a hectic lifestyle, and we didn't want you a part of that."

"So that's your excuse! It can at least be a more creative lie! And even if it's true, did you expect to come waltzing into my life, fully forgiven for never being there when I needed you? If so, that is not gonna happen anytime soon!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just-"

"Save it." I say, before storming away.

The party lasted until 10 that night, or, at least, as far as I know, because Dimitri pulled me out into the hallway then.

"Rose, I have a graduation present for you." He said

"I hope it's better than my mother's. Can you believe she thought I would want to meet the man who deserted me all my life, and now calls himself my father?" I demand.

"Who is he?"

"Abe Mazur." As soon as I said his name, Dimitri froze. "What? Do you know something about him?"

"Not much. It's just that he doesn't have a very good reputation over in Russia."

"Oh, well… where is that gift you said you had for me?" I say expectantly, knowing it would be better than my mother's.

"It's not here, I have to take you to it, and I'm sure you'll love it." He says mysteriously.

I wonder what it is. I know it can't be a night long visit somewhere, since I always beg him to have sex with me.

He leads me out side, towards his car. "Where is this present?" I wonder. _What kind of present needs to be driven to? Besides from the obvious, of course._

He just smiles at me and says, "I want you to figure it out."

I sigh. "Please? At least give me a hint." I beg.

"Nope."

"Fine." I say, looking out the windows. When I see that we're driving into town, I start to get suspicious. _He can't really be taking me to the hotel here, can he? _But I quickly dismiss the thought.

Then, the thought is crushed when he pulls into the parking lot of the fancy restaurant here. I quickly realize that he must have figured out a way to take the night off without looking suspicious of anything. I do a quick makeup check; I still look great, before I get out of the car.

The inside of the restaurant is even fancier then the outside. It's also really romantic.

We then get led to our table. It is a secluded one, right in the corner.

We talk and laugh throughout dinner. Then, when we got the dessert, something unexpected happened.

He got down on one knee and said: "Roza, I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

I sit shocked for a moment, but then I come to my senses. "OF course I will, Dimitri!" I then proceed to kiss him. The whole restaurant claps for us. He slides the beautiful ring onto my finger.

When he gets back into his chair, I ask, "So, you loved me even when I tried to attack you when you took Lissa and I back to the academy?"

"Yes. I loved you even then. You where so beautiful, it was hard for me to push you away."

"Really." I say absentmindedly, admiring my ring. Its platinum, with a diamond in-between two diamond studded ribbons. **(Really awesome- go check it out!)**

After dinner, we get back into the car, expecting to have to go back to the academy, but he says, "Don't look so sad. Your present isn't complete yet."

I immediately perk up. "Really? What else is there?" I ask excitedly.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

We drive for about fifteen minutes in silence. I was busy admiring my ring, while he was content with looking at me every chance he got.

When we come to a stop, I look up. We're in front of the hotel. "Really? You want to? You don't need any prodding from me?"

"No, Rose. I want to make this night extra special for you. That's why we're here. I don't want to have to be worried about getting caught." He chuckles at my excitement.

"You've already made this night extra special." I argue.

"So, I guess we can turn around and go back to the academy?"

"No!"

"I thought so. Let's go."

Once we checked in, we went straight to our room. As soon as we got there and closed the door, I kissed him passionately. Dimitri did the same.

His hands slide down to the hem of my dress and pull it up over my head. I then unbutton his shirt and push it off. I run my hands up and down his chest, getting lower each time.

He picks me up and carries me to the bed. Our clothes proceed to come off until we join as one.

That night was one of the best nights we've had together. I think it was because we didn't have to be careful about someone finding out about us.

When we had to go back to the academy in the morning, I was sorely disappointed.

On the way, we talk about Russia.

"Do you still want to go to Baia this summer?" he asks me.

"Of course! Now I have more reason than ever to want to go there. Now I really want to meet your family. I want to know if they like me or not."

"I'm sure they'll love you, Rose."

"I hope. When can we go?"

"I don't think we need to go to Court like everyone else is. We can leave right from the academy, if you want."

"I can't wait. I want to get away from moroi politics. Are you sure your family won't disapprove of me?"

"No, they won't. They'll be happy for us. They don't conform to expectations, either."

The rest of the ride went by quickly. When we were a few minutes away, I reluctantly pulled off my ring. Dimitri looked taken aback for a moment, but then he realized that I couldn't wear my ring at the academy.

We pulled into the academy. I give Dimitri a quick kiss before I head to find Lissa. I tune into the bond, telling me that Lissa is in her room, alone.

I run there, with all my excitement to tell her making me faster. Once I get to her room, I knock loudly. Then, being the impatient girl that I am, I barge right in, unable to wait to tell her.

"Lissa." I sing. The feelings leaking through the bond are confused, since I don't ever act like this.

"What's up?" she asks, thinking: _all I know is that Dimitri wanted a night alone with her. I don't know what else could have made her this happy._

"He proposed!" I say excitedly, pulling my ring out from my pocket and showing her.

"This is so beautiful!" she gushes. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"Well, he told me he had a surprise for me, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. Then we pulled into the parking lot for the really fancy restaurant there, and we had dinner. When dinner was almost over, he proposed. Of course I said yes. After dinner, he took me to the hotel and we… did some things. This morning, on the way back, we talked about all kinds of things."

"That is so great! So what happens next for you guys?"

"One of the things we talked about on the way back was that I wanted to go to Russia with him to meet his family, so tomorrow we are going to leave for Russia, since we don't need to go to Court."

"Oh, you are so lucky. I wish you guys the best of luck together."

**AN: Sorry this took so long to get up! I knew where I wanted to go with this story; I just couldn't put it into words!**

**If you want to see Rose's ring, here's the link: .?GroupSKU=GRP10021#f+1/0/2004/3001/0/2004**

**Sorry if I make Dimitri seem like he doesn't want to sleep with Rose, because he does, he's just really careful!**

**Don't forget to review about the test I mentioned in the last chapter! I just want to know if you guys are attentive readers!**

**Don't forget to review, even if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about with the test! I NEED 10! Ten clicks on that little button right there. I don't care if only one person reviews, just get me to ten!**

**DISCLAMER: I wish I could be Richelle Mead. But, since I'm not, I own none of the characters in this story yet.**


	3. Chapter 3: To Baia

**AN: If you think I progressed the story to fast, this is why: I needed a reason for them to go to Russia, since most of my story takes part there. Love ya! (Eww… not in that way! You're just such great readers!)**

Chapter 3: Baia

It was time for everyone to part ways. Lissa and Christian were going to Court on one of the academy's planes, while Dimitri and I were going to drive to the airport in town and go to Russia from there.

Lissa and Christian were leaving now, and since me and Dimitri had enough time before we had to get to town, we stay for a little bit longer and say our goodbyes.

"Lissa, I am so going to miss you!"

"I know me too!" while this is happening, we both are crying.

After Lissa, I say goodbye to Christian.

"See ya, Fire boy."

"Later, Rose."

Then we get into the car. "Dimitri?"

"Yes, my Roza?"

"I love you."

He laughs. "I love you too."

We talk about all sorts of things on the way to the airport. But mostly, it's just me worrying about whether or not his family will like me.

By the time my fears are stowed away, we are on the plane. Dimitri and I sit down, and we are two of the first on the plane.

It fills up pretty quickly. Just as the plane is about to close up to get ready for takeoff, someone runs in. I look up, and if I hadn't met Dimitri, I would think him hot.

When I notice that the only seat in this section is next to me, I sigh. Dimitri notices this at the same time I do, and stiffens.

"Dimitri, you know I love you. He is nothing in my mind."

"You're right. I have nothing to worry about. I'm sorry."

I push up the armrest and curl up onto him. For two reasons. One, because I don't want to let the guy get the wrong impression, and two, because I love it. he puts his arm around me, and I smile even more.

He sits down and introduces himself. "Hi. I'm Spencer. And your name?" he asked flirtatiously.

"My name's Rose, and this is Dimitri." I say, then I turn back to Dimitri and kiss him.

"Well…" he says awkwardly. But then he seems to recover, since he hits on me two minutes later.

"Hey, Rose. What do you say we hook up sometime?"

"Can't you see I have no interest in you? I'm with Dimitri."

"So that's his name? He looks more like an ass. Yeah, that name fits him perfectly."

"You don't even know him!"

"Roza. Just ignore him. He doesn't know me, and he just wants to get in your pants."

"You're right Dimitri. I'm just gonna ignore him."

"Alright. Talk about me like I'm not even here. You know, I just want to date you. and from the looks of him, he looks like those jerks that only want one thing."

"Can you stop talking about my fiancé like that!"

"Come on. You can't really be marrying that ass."

All I do is show him my ring in answer. Then I turn back to Dimitri and start ignoring Spencer.

I sleep for the next few hours. Luckily, when I wake up, Spencer is asleep.

"Hey Comrade." I say, but then I notice he's sleeping. I lightly kiss him to wake him up, but then I decide to prank him, and act like I'm sleeping to.

He wakes up with a start, and I "wake up". I yawn. "What's up, Comrade?"

"I know you woke me up."

"What?" I say, surprised that he figured it out so quickly.

"I wasn't asleep. I heard you wake up, talk to me, kiss me, then pretend to go back to sleep."

"Oh. Well then…" I trail off as I start to kiss him.

It gets more passionate by the second, but just as I was about to lose myself in the kiss, I remembered we were on a plane. I pull back, and sigh.

"Dimitri, we're on a plane. We can't, not right now."

DPOV: THE PLANE RIDE FROM BEGINNING (ERASE WHE I WRITE AGAIN)

We are some of the first people on the plane, although it fills up pretty quickly. And just when I thought Roza and I would have the row to ourselves, some guy comes on, last minute, and has to sit next to my Roza.

I don't notice this right away, but the moment I look around and see that there is no other seat in this section, I stiffen.

"Dimitri, you know I love you. He is nothing in my mind." She must've felt me stiffen, and realized why.

"You're right. I have nothing to worry about. I'm sorry." I say, since I don't want her to think I get jealous every time some guy is near her.

I feel her curl up onto my chest, and smile, then put my arms around her.

He introduces himself. I hadn't even realized he had sat down yet. "Hi. I'm Spencer. And your name?" he asked flirtatiously to my Roza.

"My name's Rose, and this is Dimitri." She says, and then she kisses me. I put a little more into it then I normally would in public, because I don't want that Spencer guy to think he has a shot at Rose.

"Well…" he says awkwardly. But then he recovers, because he hits on her a few minutes later.

"Hey, Rose. What do you say we hook up sometime?"

"Can't you see I have no interest in you? I'm with Dimitri." I can tell Rose is annoyed by him.

"So that's his name? He looks more like an ass. Yeah, that name fits him perfectly." By this point, I'm ready to pull out my stake and use it on him. The only thing restraining me is Rose. First off, she's still lying on me. Second, I know she wouldn't like it if I stabbed some guy just because I don't like him.

"You don't even know him!" she defends me. She is really getting pissed by now, and I'm still entertaining the idea of staking him.

"Roza. Just ignore him. He doesn't know me, and he just wants to get in your pants." I warn, trying to get her to stop talking to him.

"You're right Dimitri. I'm just gonna ignore him."

"Alright. Talk about me like I'm not even here. You know, I just want to date you. And from the looks of him, he looks like those jerks that only want one thing."

"Can you stop talking about my fiancé like that?" Rose is really angry by now, so it's probably the darkness coming through the bond. I try to calm her down by rubbing her back.

"Come on. You can't really be marrying that ass."

She shows him her ring, and turns back to me. Luckily, she heeds my advice and ignores him.

Roza then falls asleep on me for the next few hours. Once she is completely asleep, I turn to Spencer.

"What is wrong with you?" I demand.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He says, innocently.

"She obviously isn't into you, so why pursue it? And why judge me? I could say a lot of things about you from sight, but I don't. So why don't you just sleep for the rest of the ride or something?"

"I can judge you because I know your kind. They act all nice and sweet, but then turn around and beat someone up for no reason."

"Why do you judge me from how I look? Just because I am fit doesn't mean I take advantage of girls."

"In my experience, that give guys all the reason they need to take advantage of the female population." He says quietly. "I was just trying to protect her from harm."

"Then you know nothing about her. She can kick anyone's ass. She hates to be treated like a girly-girl."

"I'm sorry. Some things have happened to me, and I can be protective of women."

"All right. Just don't try to get Roza anymore."

"Roza… oh yeah, you're Russian. All right. As long as you don't do anything to harm her."

Alright. That is a bit protective. He must have had someone take advantage of his mother or sister. "I won't."

When I feel Roza waking up, I pretend to be sleeping, just to see what she will do.

"Hey Comrade." I try not to smile, and I guess it worked, because she tries to wake me up by kissing me.

I "wake up" with a start, and look over at her. She pretends to have been sleeping, and "wakes up", saying, "What's up, Comrade?"

"I know you woke me up."

"What?" Surprised that I figured it out already. Then again, I wasn't actually asleep. "I wasn't asleep. I heard you wake up, talk to me, kiss me, then pretend to go back to sleep."

"Oh. Well then…" she starts to kiss me, and I deepen it, suddenly forgetting where we are.

It gets more passionate by the second, but when it gets somewhat close to undressing, she pulls back.

"Dimitri, we're on a plane. We can't, not right now."

"Wow. For once you are the voice of reason."

"I know. It's weird, isn't it?"

By this time, we are about to land in Russia, and I am really excited. "I can't wait for you to meet my family. They will love you, and you have nothing to worry about."

"Fine, I won't worry about it. Do they know we are coming?"

"No. I wanted to keep it a surprise. They haven't seen me in so long, I figure they will be that much more happy to see us. They are always teasing me about how I never date."

"Well, they'll be really surprised then, won't they?"

"Yes, they will."

As soon as we land, I jump out of my seat, pulling Rose up with me.

"Excited much, Comrade?" My Roza asks me.

"Yes, very much so, and you should be to!"

"All right, all right." She says, laughing. "Really, I can't wait to meet your family." I can tell that isn't the whole truth, but I don't push it. I'm in way too good of a mood.

"You know, I'm pretty sure you and Viktoria will get along great. She's your age, and also loves to get into trouble."

"I do not love to get into trouble!" She exclaims defensively.

"Then what were you doing when I brought you and Lissa back to the academy?"

"Protecting her." By this time I have called a cab, and told him where to take us.

"I guess so. The drive to the house is about an hour, so I don't want to hear any complaining from you. And be warned, they are going to want to know exactly how we met and fell in love. Don't get freaked."

"Are you saying that I, the amazing Rose Hathaway, can get freaked by a family bombarding me with questions? I am offended." She says, trying to pull a straight face, but failing miserably, and ending up laughing.

I laugh along with her, and apologize profusely, but it doesn't have much effect, since I'm laughing so hard.

We spend the rest of the ride like that, laughing and talking. But when we pull to a stop in front of the house, she immediately sobers up.

"Come on, Roza. They'll love you, you have nothing to worry about." I say as I pull her out of the car. We grab our bags, and walk towards the house I grew up in.

**AN: What do you guys think? Some guy hit on Rose. Horrors! I was watching iCarly, so I made him be Spencer! Well… good thing he just is in this one chapter! And about the test… tell me if you need me to explain it to you. If enough people do, I'm just gonna put it up next chapter's AN. BUT I STILL AM GONNA TELL YOU, EVEN IF ONLY ONE PERSON NEEDS CLARIFICATION!**

**REVIEW!**

**DISCLAMER: *in my own fantasy world***

**Me: sitting on the chair in my living room, reading my copy of VA, wishing I could own Dimitri, when I hear a knock on the door.  
My mom: answers the door, talks for a minute, and calls me over.  
Guest (who looks strangely like woman on cover of my book): "Hello, Sarah. My name is Richelle Mead. I heard you like my stories?"  
Me: "Yes! I love them! Especially Dimitri!"  
Richelle: "Well, it's your lucky day! I decided to hand over the rights to my book series to you. I heard how much you love them, and I've read some of your stories in fanfiction."  
Me: "Are you serious! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"  
Richelle: "You're welcome. Goodbye."  
Mom: "Sarah? Sarah? Sarah! You were in your own fantasy world again, weren't you?"  
Me: "Yes."  
Mom: "You know you don't own that series, right?"  
Me: "Way to crush my dreams, Mom!"**


	4. Chapter 4: The Family

**AN: YAY! I finally got a DPOV in there! Some of you guys wanted one, so happy early Christmas to those of you who wanted one! Any one got any ideas I can use? Hmm? Please tell me, I know where I want to go, but don't know how to get there! If you give me an idea, and I use it, or plan to use it, I will mention you in the next chapter!**

Chapter 4: The Family

RPOV:

I hold his hand in a death grip. When he goes to ring knock on the door, I hold it even tighter.

A woman opens the door, and looks at us surprised. "Dimitri?" she says questioningly.

"Hey, Mom." He says, and then introduces me. "Mother, this is my fiancée, Rosemarie Hathaway." He says proudly.

"Fiancée? You never even told us you were dating anyone!" his mother scolded him.

Of course, this only served to confirm my fears that they wouldn't like me.

But then she surprised me by pulling me into a hug.

"Congratulations!" Olena tells both of us after the hug. Then another person walks to the door, but is still around the corner, asking, "Mom! Who's at the door?"

Dimitri smiled, and says, "Hey, Karolina." He says it softly, but she comes running, along with a cute little boy, who must be Paul. "Dimka! Where have you been?" she says as she rounds the corner, but stops dead in her tracks when she sees me.

Before she can ask anything, I hear another voice coming from the stairs. "Did I hear someone say Dimka?" the voice asks.

"Yes, Sonya, you did." He says loudly. This sister takes a little longer to come down, but she comes with another girl, who I assume is Viktoria.

They both start asking questions at the same time. Things like: how are you, where have you been, stuff like that.

But then they see Olena smiling, while Karolina is just recovering from seeing me, and starting to smile also. They look to Dimitri and me, and see me holding Dimitri's hand.

Right now, I'm confused as to whether coming here was a mistake, but right then, everyone pulls me into the living room, and starts to ask me questions.

Olena calms everyone down after a few minutes of me tying to answer everyone's questions at once.

"All right, guys. One at a time. Viktoria, you start." I shoot Olena a grateful look.

"So, how did you two meet?"

"Dimitri was leading the group that took me and Lissa Dragomir back to the academy after we ran away."

"Roza has always been dedicated to her job. She even tried to fight of all 12 guardians just to keep the Princess safe." Dimitri says lovingly.

"How did that turn into this?" Sonya asks.

"Well, it wasn't until I had trained with Dimitri that I got to know him. Then, it really didn't take much."

"I knew from the minute I saw her that we would be at least friends, hopefully more then that." Dimitri says, then kisses me sweetly.

"So it was kind of like love at first sight for you then, Dimitri." Viktoria interjects.

"Yes, it was." He agrees, smiling at me.

"Well, Roza, how was training with my brother? Before you fell in love, of course. He can be pretty strict." Karolina wonders.

"At first, he beat me up pretty bad, since I never practiced when I wasn't in school. But then I got tougher, and I started being a kick-ass guardian." Dimitri laughingly scolds me for my use of language.

It continues on like that for some time, until Olena calls us in for dinner. Up until that moment, I hadn't realized she had left.

She had made something American for me, while using some Russian ingredients like delicious black bread instead of buns for the hamburgers. All throughout dinner, I talked to everyone about every thing.

Halfway through dinner, another person comes in. She is elderly, and looks a bit like Dimitri's mother. Dimitri sees her, and brightens.

She says something in Russian to Dimitri, and he replies in Russian. All I recognize is my name, so I assume she asked about me, and he introduced me.

They talk for a few more minutes, until he leans over to me, and says, "That's my grandmother, Yeva. She was wasn't surprised to see you, because, she has visions, and one was about me coming over with you."

"That explains it." I say, since I was wondering why she wasn't surprised, when everyone else was. "If she knew, why didn't she tell everyone else?"

"Apparently, she had the vision this afternoon, when we had already been here for a little while."

"Oh." I say, still unclear as to what exactly these visions are all about, but not asking.

After dinner, Viktoria asks me to spar with her tomorrow.

"Sure. Well, maybe not tomorrow, since I need to get used to the time difference. I want to be awake because I don't know what to expect from you."

"I wont be as good as you, since I didn't get trained by my brother."

"I'm sure you can hold your own in a fight." Just then, I yawn. I lean over onto Dimitri's chest. By this time, I've been up for almost a whole day. "You need to go to bed." Dimitri says, worrying as always.

"I'm fine." I say, but Dimitri just pulls me up and walks up to his old room with my hand in his. I don't realize how tired I am until I'm actually walking up the stairs.

I turn around, and say goodnight to everybody. Then Dimitri leads me into his old room, since Viktoria said it was fine we stay there, even though that means she has to share with Paul.

When we get to the room, I collapse on the bed. I fall asleep almost as soon as I lay down. Dimitri strips me down to my underwear and bra, then lies down and pulls the covers over the both of us.

After I've been asleep for a little while, I feel the familiar pull of a spirit dream. I look around, and see that we're on a beach. I'm wearing a see through white halter cover-up over a light blue bikini.

"Hey, Adrian. Why dress me up like this?" I call out, since he's hiding like he always is.

He come out from behind a sand dune. "I like to see you in skimpy outfits. You know that."

"Yeah, I guess so. Why are you here? I need to sleep."

"How many times do I have to tell you? You are sleeping. And as for why I'm here, I wanted to see how you were doing. Lissa told me you were worried about the cradle-robber's family not liking you."

"Don't call him that! Actually, Adrian, they love me. I shouldn't have been worried about that."

"Really. That's… great." He says like he was hoping for a different answer.

"Adrian. You know that even if they didn't like me, I wouldn't abandon Dimitri. I like you, but only as a friend."

"I know. I just couldn't help but hope. Anyway, I have some news."

"What's the news?" I ask excitedly.

"You'll see." He says mysteriously. Then the dream world starts to get blurry. "You're waking up now." He says regretfully.

"I guess I'll see you soon. Goodbye." I say, then I wake up. I look around, and see that it is only 4:30. "God, my sleep schedule is all messed up." I mutter to myself. I reach over to cuddle with Dimitri, but see that he is gone.

Just then, a shirtless Dimitri walks in the door. I stare at his perfect chest. He stands there for a few minutes, looking at me also. It is then that I realize that all I'm wearing is a bra and a pair of underwear. "See something you like, Comrade?"

"Oh, Roza." He sighs and comes over to the bed, sitting next to me.

"So how long have you been awake?"

"For awhile. My sleep schedule is all messed up, so I couldn't sleep all that much. You were tired, so I didn't want to wake you."

"You know, if you woke me up, I wouldn't mind that much." I say seductively.

"Not right now, Roza." He warns. I pout.

"Come on." I beg. "Why not?"

"Because, we are in my family's house, and it's the middle of the night here. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate being woken up to us."

"Come on Comrade. We can be quiet. And it's a way to pass the time. Besides, we did it at the academy." I try.

"It's not going to happen."

"You know you can't say no to me."

"Yes I can. I just don't want to disappoint you."

"The only way you can disappoint me is to not love me." I say.

"All right." He kisses me passionately. I kiss him back forcefully. He trails kisses all down my body. The rest of the clothes come off, and we come together as one.

**AN: Sorry it took so long, and is so short! I had written a lot more, but it would be **_**way **_**to long. Anyways… if you read my other story, I'm not gonna update that as much. Only when I don't feel like writing this one. Sorry if I'm disappointing you guys! Never mind about the test. I'm through with it. It was too much of a hassle.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Fight

Chapter 5: The Fight

When I wake up in the morning, Dimitri is still asleep beside me. I look at the clock, and it says 9:37. I lightly kiss his lips, and he slowly wakes up.

"Good morning, Roza." He says with a smile.

I remember what happened last night, and say, "You know I always get my way when it comes to you."

"Yes, you do. I can never say no to you, my Roza." Remembering also.

"I know." I say happily. "Hey, do you think they would mind if I showered before going downstairs? I don't want to look gross in front of them."

"You can never look gross. But, I don't want them to know what we did last night, so I need to shower to."

"Come on." We grab our clothes to change into, and go into the bathroom. I strip the robe I put on, and Dimitri sheds his boxers. I turn the water on, and step in. Dimitri follows me, then turns me around. He attacks my lips with his, and I gladly comply. I tangle my hands in his long brown hair. As we were just starting to get carried away, he pulls back.

"What's that about?" I ask, pouting.

"You do know we are in my family's house. Again, I don't think they would appreciate it if we disturb them."

"I guess you're right, Comrade."

"Roza, don't call me that."

"You know you love it." I say, turning away, teasing him.

We finish the shower, and head downstairs after I put on some makeup and dry my hair. Paul sees us first, and runs from Viktoria to us. He runs straight to Dimitri, and he picks Paul up. Paul stays with Dimitri for a few minutes, then he turns to me. "Hello, Roza. It's nice to see you again."

"Hello, Paul. It's nice to see you to." I say as I come out of the shock of him greeting me in such a friendly way.

Dimitri notices my hesitation, and figures out why. "I told you they would love you."

"And, as always, you were right." I say lovingly.

"Eww." That's Viktoria.

"Hey, Viktoria. You know, I'm feeling up to sparring with you this morning, if you're free."

"Of course! I can't wait to kick your ass."

"Viktoria!" Olena scolds her as she walks into the room.

"It's alright. I know she can't beat me in a fight." I say jokingly.

"You wanna bet?" she asks.

"Nope. 'Cause I know you will lose and I don't want to take anything from you."

She turns to Dimitri. "Who do you think would win when we fight?"

"You know Roza will win. She got trained by me."

"Dimka! How could you turn on your own sister like that?" she demands jokingly.

"If I said you might win, Roza might leave me."

"You know, I could never leave you Comrade. I just would've punished you." I say seductively. He smiles, and kisses me deeply.

"Ugh. Get a room you guys." Viktoria says. We break apart, and I smile.

"Come on. Let's go fight. If you think you can handle it."

"I know I can handle it."

We walk outside, and take up our starting positions. We start circling each other, looking for an opening. She knows she won't find one anytime soon, so she attacks first. She approaches me, then tries to punch me. I block easily. "You gotta do better than that!" I taunt. She ignores me and keeps looking for an opening. I see one, and attack. I land a kick, and she goes down. "Already? Come on, you can do better." She falters, and I land another hit. She tries getting up, but I keep her down. Realizing that getting up isn't an option, she flips over. "Good job. But not," I say, as I come out on top again, "for long." I then see an opening for her chest, and I take it. I lay my hands over her heart, imitating staking her, and say, "Dead."

She gets up, smiling good-naturedly, and says, "Wow. You fight _really _well. I wonder how you would do against Dimitri."

I turn towards him, and ask, "Do you want to show them?" since everyone came out to watch Viktoria and I fight.

"Well, you could never beat me, so I guess I could fight you." he says cheerfully.

We circle each other, both of us teasing and taunting the other, when Dimitri makes the first move. He throws some punches, I land some kicks. After a while, he starts to get tired, and loses his concentration. I see the opening, and knock him down. He sees that I'm about to win, and pulls a very unexpected move. He leans up, and kisses me passionately. I'm so shocked, I stop fighting for a moment. He uses that to his advantage, and lays his hands over my heart. "Dead." He says gloatingly.

"I demand a rematch! The only reason you won is because you caught me off guard."

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" he asks innocently.

"Yes," I say reluctantly, "But not like that! You always find a loophole out of everything."

"You know, if you want a rematch, all you have to do is ask."

"Fine. Comrade, will you participate in a rematch? This time, no kissing."

"I will, if I have to. But I really don't want to resort to that."

"Oh well. If you want me to be nice to you, you have to follow my rules." I threaten.

"Fine." He says dejectedly. His family left once he kissed me, I guess to give us some privacy. But now, they come back out, hearing that there will not be any surprises like that again.

We get ready, again, but this time, I don't wait, I just attack. This catches him off guard, and I tackle him. He pushes me off him, and jumps up. I do to.

We fight for a few minutes, then, just as he is about to punch me, I feel a burst of terrified feelings so strong from Lissa that I get sucked into her head. The scene unfolding before me is gruesome. I'm-she's outside, on court grounds. She was going out on a date with Christian when it happens. One moment, it's calm. The next, Strigoi are swarming the place. Possibly a larger group than has ever worked together before.

Christian yells at her to run, but seeing that Lissa is rooted in place, drags her along with him while quickly flaming any Strigoi that gets near. She stumbles along behind him until she comes to her senses. They make a break for it, trying to get to their room, when a Strigoi steps in front of them. He is old, we find out when Christian sets him on fire like he has for all the others. The Strigoi bend over for a minute, but doesn't freak out, allowing them escape like the others did.

He just laughs and says, "Well, well. You are Christian Ozera, are you not? I knew your parents. They wanted to awaken you, you know. Maybe I'll fulfill their wishes; you could make a fine Strigoi. And you, Princess Dragomir," he says, spitting on her name. "I'll just have to take you to, of course. We already have the queen, it was too easy. Now, if we get you, I'll have all the glory. The glory of changing the Dragomir Princess - the last Dragomir, in fact - and killing your precious queen since she is far too old to awaken."

"I don't think so." Christian says forcefully. Then the Strigoi bursts into flames. Christian holds it for as long as he can, but when he is done, the Strigoi does wince as if he were hit with a stake, but then he gets back up after a second and starts laughing again. "You think your stupid moroi magic will work against me?" he says in mock disbelief. "I am from before St. Vladimir's lifetime. I knew him, actually. He couldn't kill me then, so I doubt that any of you weak moroi could even hurt me. Probably not even a dhampir." He then darts forward, and grabs the both of them.

He whisks them away, outside Court, to some hideout over a mile away. Once they arrive, he compels them to forget everything that they just saw. I almost fall under the spell, but since I am not actually there, it isn't even close to full effect on me. Before he knocks them unconscious, Lissa – and in result, I – see the queen hunched over in a corner with a smile on her face and blood on her neck.

I pull out of Lissa's head once she is unconscious, so I can call whoever is left at Court and tell them where they are. Once I'm fully awake, I hear, "Rose? Roza? Roza!" from Dimitri. I see that I'm inside, on the couch in the living room.

I abruptly sit up, and start worrying about Lissa. "Oh, god, Lissa! She got-"

"Shh. Calm down, Roza." Dimitri says, obviously worried about me. The rest of his family is behind him, worrying about me. I disregard it.

"How can I calm down when I just saw my best friend and her boyfriend get captured by Strigoi! And, to top things off, right before she blacked out, I saw that they have Queen Tatiana! We need to call what's left of the Guardians!" I say, then I run to get my phone from upstairs, and Dimitri follows me. I call Court, but nobody picks up. "Damn! They must still be under attack. Though I don't see why, since they already have everyone they want."

"Just keep trying to get through. As soon as they can, they will answer. You have information they need, and they know you might know where Lissa is. Someone will probably call you in a few minutes to find out if you know anything."

"But in a few minutes, Lissa could die! I need to talk to them now!" I shout, frustrated.

Just then my phone rings. I hastily pick it up.

"Guardian Hathaway?" a male voice says over the phone.

"Yes? Is this a guardian from Court?"

"Yes. My name is Hans. I'm calling to ask you to peer into Princess Dragomir's head. She and the-"

"I know. I was in her head while it happened. I know where the three of them are. I would come, but I'm too far away. So I will tell you. Are you listening? Good. They are in an old house a little over a mile away. It may already be too late for them. They want to awaken Lissa and Christian, and plan to kill Tatiana. The house is white, on…" I tune into Lissa's head to see if she's awake. Luckily, she is. I direct her eyes to look outside the window, since there it's daylight. "They are in a secluded area in the forest. On a dirt path. Hurry!"

"I'm going to keep you on the line, so you can help us. We are leaving now."

"How… how many of you are left?" I ask hesitantly.

"Only about 60. Do you think you could fly over here?"

"Only if you absolutely need us."

"Us?"

"Dimitri and I. we are visiting his family." At this, Dimitri looks at me. I cover the phone, and say, "It doesn't matter anymore. We need to be able to be there for them."

"I guess. Alright." I try a smile, but it's useless. I give up, and uncover the phone.

"Sorry about that. Where are you guys right now?"

"We are right outside Court. We just left." A few minutes elapse, then he speaks. "We just entered the forest from the main road. Where do we go from here?"

"Umm, take your next… right." I say, having to think about it for a moment. "The drive until you see a black van."

In a minute, he says, "Alright, I see the van. What now?"

"Pull over. Get out of the car. You can't get there in a car. You need to turn left at the van. Run until the trees start thinning. The Strigoi start watching there. As far as I know, there are five Strigoi. Then inside there are about fifteen. Lissa, Christian, and the queen are in the third room in the hallway on your left."

"Alright. Got it. I need to hang up now so I can help out. Is there anything else you need me to know?"

"Just that as far as I know, they have already drunk out of the queen, and maybe Christian."

"Alright. We'll be quick. I'll call you if you need to come over."

"But please don't, not if you don't need to." then I hang up.

**AN: yay! Two chapters in as many days! Next chapter is this one, but in DPOV.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own VA. (sorry it's not funny, I just need to go.)**


	6. Chapter 6: The Fight DPOV

**AN: Alright guys. So many of you love my story. Thank you so much. There is just one person who reviewed who doesn't like it. YAY! So, in case you didn't read the AN on the bottom of the last chapter, this is that chapter, but in DPOV. Yes, I know I'm keeping you in suspense, and that may or may not be the point!**

Chapter 6: The Fight (DPOV)

I wake up with the feeling of Roza's lips on mine. I see the clock out of the corner of my eye, and it's actually time to wake up for the day.

"Good morning, Roza." I say, smiling.

"You know I always get my way when it comes to you." she says after a moment. I remember what happened last night, and smile even bigger.

"Yes, you do. I can never say no to you, my Roza." I say, chuckling.

"I know." She says gloatingly. "Hey, do you think they would mind if I showered before going downstairs? I don't want to look gross in front of them."

"You can never look gross. But, I don't want them to suspect what happened last night, so I need to shower to." I say, hoping that she'll concede.

"Come on." She says, and mentally, I'm already forming a plan to attack her in the shower. We grab our changes of clothes, and I follow my Roza into the bathroom. She takes off the robe she put on while I wasn't looking, because, if I had seen, I might not have allowed her to put it on. After I look at her body for a few minutes, I take off my boxers. Once she steps in, I start my plan of attack. I step in, acting like nothing will happen, when I flip her around so fast she has no time to react. I kiss her fiercely, and she kisses back immediately. Before anything happens, I remember that my family's downstairs. I reluctantly pull back.

"What's that about?" she asks, and pouts.

"You do know we are in my family's house. Again, I don't think they would appreciate it if we disturbed them."

"I guess you're right, Comrade."

Before I say anything about me always being right, I notice that she called my Comrade. A name I hate. "Roza, don't call me that."

"You know you love it." she teases as she turns away.

We finish up, and I make to go downstairs, but notice she is doing her makeup. I decide to stay and wait for her. When she's done, we start downstairs. Almost as soon as we turn the corner, Paul sees us. He runs away from Viktoria and into my arms. Paul hugs me for awhile, then turns to Roza. "Hello, Roza. It's nice to see you again."

I can tell my Roza is shocked, but at what, I don't know. "Hello, Paul. It's nice to see you too."

I figure that she was shocked at the way he greeted her, and say, "I told you they would love you." I gloat at being right.

"As always, you were right." She says.

"Eww." Viktoria says loudly.

Roza then changes the subject. "Hey, Viktoria. You know, I'm feeling up to sparring with you this morning, if you're free."

"Of course! I can't wait to beat your ass."

I'm about to scold her when mother walks into the room. "Viktoria!"

Roza takes it all good naturedly, saying, "It's alright. I know she can't beat me in a fight."

"You wanna bet?" Viktoria asks.

"Nope. 'Cause I know you will lose, and I don't want to take anything from you."

Then Viktoria turns to me. "Who do you think would win in a fight?"

I was trying not to take sides in this, but if I don't support Roza, she might punish me in some way, shape, or form. So I say, "You know Roza would win. She got trained by me."

"Dimka! How could you turn on your own sister like that?" she jokes.

"If I said you might win, Roza might leave me." I act worried, though I know she would never leave.

She just supports that theory when she says "You know I could never leave you, Comrade." I smile at her, and lean down to kiss her.

"Ugh. Get a room you guys." Viktoria interrupts.

I smile as we break apart, then Roza says "Come on, let's go fight. If you think you can handle it."

"I know I can handle it." Viktoria replies indignantly.

The two walk outside, and I follow them. They begin fighting, but I can see the faults in Viktoria's methods. About halfway through, the rest of my family comes out. I don't think either of them notices, since they keep fighting. Every hit, kick, or punch that Viktoria give, my Roza blocks it. They keep fighting for a while, until Roza pulls Viktoria down and pretends to stake her, saying "Dead."

They get up, and Viktoria takes it really well. "Wow. You fight_ really_ well. I wonder how you would do against Dimitri."

Roza turns to me. "Do you want to show them?" apparently she's finally noticed my family.

"Well, you could never beat me, so I guess I could fight you." I say lightly.

We circle each other, Roza doing most of the teasing, but I take part in it to. I see an opening, and take it, lunging. We fight, punching, kicking. I start to act tired once I see that I need a new strategy. She falls for it, and pulls me down. I have to pull an unexpected move when she is about to win. I lean up, and kiss her. She stops fighting for a minute, and I take the opportunity to "stake" her. "Dead." I gloat.

"I demand a rematch! The only reason you beat me is because you caught me off guard!"

I act innocent. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

"Yes." Roza says reluctantly. "But not like that! You always find a loophole out of everything!"

"You know, if you want a rematch, all you have to do is ask." I say, trying to change the subject.

"Fine. Comrade, will you participate in a rematch with me? This time, there is no kissing."

"If that's what you want to do, then so be it." I say, acting like I was old.

So we begin to fight. She pulls me down, I get back up. I start to punch her, but then something happens. Her eyes go wide, as I f terrified, then she goes limp and falls to the ground. "Roza!" I shout. My family rushes out as I pick her up. I walk her to the couch in the living room. I put her down, and sit on the floor, holding her hand.

"What's wrong?" Mother asks.

"She probably just got pulled into Lissa's head. They have a bond. But this would have to be a _really _strong emotion, since Roza has become pretty good at blocking it." we stay silent for a few minutes. "This is the longest time she's ever been in Lissa's head. What's wrong?" I mutter to myself. My family hears, and they start worrying all over again. Then I notice that she's about to wake up. "Roza? Roza? Roza!" I say worriedly.

She sits up the moment she is fully awake. "Oh, god, Lissa! She got-"

That's all she gets out before I interrupt. "Shh. Calm down, Roza." I try to be calm, but I know that something had to have happened to Lissa.

"How can I calm down when I just saw my best friend and her boyfriend get captured by Strigoi! And, to top things off, right before she blacked out, I saw that they have Queen Tatiana! We need to call what's left of the Guardians!" she says, and then runs to get her phone from upstairs. I hesitate for a second, then run up after her. She dials a number which I presume is for Court, but apparently, no one picks up, since she says "Damn! They must still be under attack. Though I don't see why, since they already have everyone they want."

I try to reassure her by saying "Just keep trying to get through. As soon as they can, they will answer. You have information they need, and they know you might know where Lissa is, at least. Someone will probably call you in a few minutes to see if you know anything."

"But in a few minutes, Lissa could die! I need to talk to them now!" she sounds frustrated.

Then her phone rings. She picks it up as fast as she can. I can faintly make out the voice on the other end. I can't understand what he is saying, but I assume he is a Guardian from Court.

Roza tells him where Lissa is. After a lull in the conversation, Roza asks him how many Guardians are left, and he replies. Then she answers with something I would never expect. Only if you absolutely need us."

I look at her in surprise. But I'm not as surprised as when she says what she says next. "Dimitri and I. We are visiting his family."

I am even more surprised than when I looked at her before. She notices, and covers the phone. "It doesn't matter anymore. We need to be able to be there for them."

I can see her point, and concede. "I guess. Alright." She tries to smile, but I can tell she can't. I don't blame her at all. She finishes the conversation after telling them where Lissa, Christian, and the Queen are.

**AN: Yay! Another chapter closer! Closer to you knowing what will happen. Also, so sorry this was short. But you all know I couldn't make Dimka know what in the world is going on. So… some of the parts in here, like some dialogue, are different from the last chapter. I consciously did that, so don't be mad. Review, please! I know I haven't been asking for a certain amount, but I never get more than 6 or 7. So, going from that, I need at least 10 reviews from all you guys this chapter. If you don't, you won't know what happens to Lissa and Christian and Tatiana! (I know, I'm mean.) Also, I want to do a one-shot about... something. Fill in that blank! Maybe I'll even be willing to do an Adrian/Rose thing. _Maybe _being the key word. Since you all know I am totally Dimitri!  
**


	7. Chapter 7: The Tragedy

**I know you all hate me, but I have an excuse! But I know you don't want to hear it, but if you are curious, it's down below.**

Chapter 7: The Tragedy

RPOV:

As soon as I'm done talking to Hans, I tell Dimitri, so he won't worry, that I'm checking on Lissa.

She's trying to form a plan on how to get them all out of there, since she's the only coherent one anymore.

I can tell she's about to carry it through, she's going to try compulsion on their guards. I start to worry, and try as hard as I can to make the bond work both ways. I think as hard as I can that the guardians are coming. She sits up straighter, and thinks _**Rose?**_

Yes. I made the bond work both ways.

Alright. So... You said the Guardians are coming?

Yes. I think in relief. _**I felt you forming that plan, which as you well know wouldn't work, and knew I had to tell you. The Guardians are finding the Strigoi outside now.**_

How did they know where we are? Just then, the door bursts open, and what we think the head Strigoi come in a rage.

"How are there Guardians here?" he demands. Since Lissa is the only one able to answer, she says "I don't know. Maybe they followed you here."

"Impossible. They were fighting off us. Wait... Aren't you the one with the bond?"

"Yeah. So? She probably wasn't in my head when you goons captured me." _**I'm so proud of you Lissa!  
**_  
_**Thanks.**_ The door opens again, and this time, Hans comes in with a stake ready. The Strigoi turns, and attacks Hans. They fight for at least a half hour, since the Strigoi is so old, until Hans stakes him. He cones over to Lissa, and says "Can you walk out? We got all the Strigoi, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah, I can walk. And I think Christian can to, but you probably need to carry the queen."

He picks up Tatiana, and says "come on, Princess." she gets up, pulling Christian up as she did so. They follow Hans out. I know that they will be taken care of, so I pull out of her head.

"Is Lissa all right?" Dimitri asks worriedly.

"Yes. Hans got to them after they killed all the Strigoi. Lissa was never drunk from, and Christian only a little bit. The queen may not be as good off, so they need to rush back."

"I'm sure that can get her better." Dimitri says reassuringly.

"I don't really care about her. Just Lissa, who is fine."

"Rose, you know you shouldn't say things like that."

"I know, but it's true."

"Roza." he says, shaking his head. I smile as much as I can, considering what just happened.

After a while, I call Lissa, to hear from her how she is. "Hey, Liss. How are you feeling?"

She sighs. "Fine. Were you in my head during the whole thing?"

"Yes Lissa. Don't you remember when I forced you to hear me?"

"Yes. But I thought that was my imagination since it has never happened before."

"I get that. How's Christian?"

"He's here, sleeping. He wasn't bad enough to merit gating at the infirmary. They told me not to heal him for some reason. And I can't heal Tatiana either."

"They were probably worried something had happened to you, and didn't want you to exert yourself."

"Probably." There is a knock at her door. "Sorry, I have to get that." she says, and puts the phone down. I hear very little of the conversation, but one thing I do catch is something about Tatiana. In a few minutes, Lissa comes back to the phone. When she speaker, hear voice matches the feelings coming through the bond. "Tatiana died. She lost too much blood, and Adrian can't heal that well, and they wouldn't let me heal her, and she died." she tries to get out when she starts crying.

For a moment, I don't know how to respond. Once I come out of my shock, I try to calm her down. Just then, Christian takes the phone, and tells me that he can calm her down. She must've accidentally woke him up. "Hey, Christian. Before you go, how are you? Are you getting better?"

"Yeah. I think I just needed some sleep."

"That's good. Now go calm Lissa down, and tell her that I'll be checking in soon if she doesn't call me first."

"Can do. See you, Rose." he hangs up.

I turn to Dimitri, and say "Tatiana died. Lissa just got told while we were talking. They wouldn't let her heal either of them."

Dimitri is shocked also. He doesn't do much more than sit there for a few minutes. I didn't do anything to wake him up, since I'm still in shock. Then the door opens. We both look up, and see Viktoria ticking her head in. "Guys, dinner's..." then she notices that we are sitting with blank looks on our faces. "What happened?" she asks worriedly.

"Queen Tatiana is dead." I reply. "She was captured with Lissa and they got her back, but couldn't help her."

Viktoria is still for a moment, but doesn't react much more than that since she didn't even know the queen. I didn't either, but the feeling from Lissa are making me act differently than I would've normally.

Viktoria went down, and we followed after a few minutes. By the time we get downstairs, Viktoria has already told everyone. Dinner that night was a silent affair. Everyone was still recovering from the fact that the queen is dead, captured by a huge group of Strigoi, larger than we've ever seen before. It was mostly the Strigoi part for most of everyone here.

Paul didn't really understand what was going on, so he kept trying to pull everyone into a conversation. After a while, he figured out that nobody would want to talk to him since we were all worrying about the Strigoi and how the government would be run until we got a new ruler.

After dinner, everyone goes to bed. We all put on a good face for Paul, but he knows something is up.

Once I've been asleep for a little while, I get pulled into one of Adrian's spirit dreams.

I look around. I am alone, in my old room from St. Vladimir's. "That's an odd choice for him." I mutter. Then I notice the window is open, but I only feel a breeze on my arms. I look down, and I'm wearing a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. "Alright… something has to be up with him." Still muttering to myself. "Adrian?" I call out. Nobody answers. "Adrian?" by now I'm worried that something might be happening to him in the real world.

"Hello." Says a very familiar female voice.

"Lissa!" I shout in excitement as she comes out from in my old closet. "Is this really your dream?"

"Yes. I'm finally able to dreamwalk!" we jump around for a long time, celebrating Lissa's accomplishment. Then I remember what just happened to her, and suddenly get serious.

"Are you sure you and Christian are alright?"

She instantly sobers, knowing exactly what I'm talking about. "I'm fine. Christian is to. He'll heal, without my help. We're just sad about what happened to Queen Tatiana. How are you and Dimitri?"

I smile. "We're good. He's still shocked about Tatiana. But then again, so is most of his family."

"They're going to be your family soon to. You need to get used to calling them your family."

"I know. It's just so unusual. I haven't been around anyone but you that I can call my family."

"So how are they? Did they accept you?"

"Surprisingly, yes. They love me."

"Tell me about them." She requests.

"Well, he has three sisters. The oldest is Karolina. She has a four year old son named Paul. He is _so_ cute! Then there is Sonya. And the youngest is Viktoria. She is only a couple years younger than us. I get along with all of them. His mother, Olena, is really nice. And his grandmother lives with them. She… is a bit weird. She claims to have visions. But even though she's weird, she is really accepting. They all are."

"That's great. I told you they would love you."

"Yeah, and so did Dimitri. I didn't believe either of you, and now I have been proven wrong."

"I know how you hate that." She jokes. Then the world starts going fuzzy. "You're waking up. See you later." She says.

"See you." I say as the world fades out. I sit up, and look around. It's the middle of the night, so I try to fall back asleep. 20 minutes pass, and I still haven't fallen asleep. I decide to take a walk.

I grab my stake and walk to the park a few blocks away. Dimitri had showed me where it is earlier today. I sit on a swing, and think about all that has happened lately. I sit there for over an hour, and notice that I'm really cold. Just when I'm about to get up, a coat is draped over my shoulders. I can tell its Dimitri, since I can smell his aftershave. "Hey there, Comrade." I say as I smile.

He sits on the swing beside me. "Rose, I woke up, and you were gone. What happened? I hate when you aren't there when I wake up."

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep. I needed to take a walk and think through everything that has happened lately."

"I get it. I would too if I experienced what you have." He sympathizes. We sit in a comfortable silence for a while, until Dimitri breaks it. "I think we should be getting back. We don't want them to worry."

"They should know that we can take care of ourselves." I joke as we get up.

Just as we start walking, my phone rings. I look at it, and I can tell my face turns into a mask of dread. Of course, Dimitri notices, and asks me what is wrong. "It's Court. I asked them not to call unless they really need us." He frowns as I answer my phone after considering for a second that I could pretend to be asleep. "Hello?"

**Sorry about the shortness of it, but I thought of something I wanted to do for next chapter. I needed to transfer what I had written to that chapter, and I couldn't think of anything to fill up this chapter with. Before I go on my rant about reviews, I need to apologize. My internet was wacky and I couldn't post for over a week, and it's still out on my laptop! Joy. And I was being stupid and totally forgot that I have another computer. When I remembered, I was being lazy and didn't want to type it out again. Then I remembered the wonderfulness of flash drives! And now you have a chapter! Anyways… to make up for this chapter and the lateness of it, I will update tomorrow! Can't have you getting to used to this, though.**


	8. Chapter 8: A Surprising Surprise

**YAY! Another chapter! Just don't get used to this. You know I take at least a week to UD. Oh, well. On with the story! So sorry! Do you remember my excuse from last chapter? It has to do with that. My Mom's computer is crappy! I couldn't figure it out! Does anyone know how to fix the internet?**

Chapter 8: The Surprise

RPOV:

The morning comes, and I wake up to an empty bed. The first thing that I think of is the horrible dream I had last night.

_Just as we start walking, my phone rings. I look at it, and I can tell my face turns into a mask of dread. Of course, Dimitri notices, and asks me what is wrong. "It's Court. I asked them not to call unless they really need us." He frowns as I answer my phone after considering for a second that I could pretend to be asleep. "Hello?"_

"_Guardian Hathaway. We are going to be swamped with royals the moment they hear about the Queen. First for her funeral, then for the elections. There are barely enough guardians here to protect those who are already here. Even with the guardians coming with their Moroi, there will be too big of a risk having everyone here with a limited amount of guardians. I need for you and Belikov to come over here before the rush gets here."_

"_Gah." I mutter. Then I make my voice louder so that Hans can hear me. "Alright. We can fly over by the end of this week." All the time I am talking, Dimitri is looking very frustrated._

"_I can get a private jet sent over in two days." States Hans. I hang up after thanking him, and we start walking again. Dimitri breaks the silence by asking what the conversation was about._

"_I think you know. They want us to go to Court as soon as we can. But according to them, two Days is all we have. They are sending a jet over for us._

_He groans. "I thought so. I was just hoping that they were calling to tell you that we didn't need to go."_

_When we get to the house, we fall into bed, and go to sleep worrying about what will happen next._

I look around, and find Dimitri is sitting at his desk, working on something. "Dimitri?" I ask hesitantly. He turns around, and I gasp. He looks like he didn't get any sleep at all last night. Which I know isn't true, since he went to sleep the same time I did. "What's wrong?" I ask, hoping against hope that it isn't what I think it is.

"Don't you remember?" he asks a bit harshly. The moment he realizes this, he turns guilty. "I'm sorry, Roza. It's just that with what happened last night, I'm not in the best of moods."

"Oh God. It wasn't a dream. They really did call and tell us to come to Court." I whisper that last part. But he hears and replies "Yes, Roza. They really did call. Are you sure you are all right?" He then crawls into the bed with me, and just holds me close. I revel in the warmth of his arms until the door bursts open.

We look up, and see that it's Paul. Only he would, I realize, since Viktoria is at school, and Sonya and Karolina are working. And none of them would just barge in. "Hey Paul." Dimitri and I say in unison. Usually something like that would make me want to tease him, but I couldn't, not right now. I continue on. "So, Paul, what's up?"

"Guess what!" he asks excitedly. "Never mind. You'll never guess." By the way he was acting I was pretty sure that it was something along the lines of him being able to visit his friends this weekend. "Momma said that I could stay at my friend's house for the first time!" Ha! Dead on. I think to myself. I smile as Dimitri answers Paul. I really don't listen, and zone out until I hear Dimitri saying "Roza?" and I see him looking into my eyes.

"Hey Comrade. What's up?"

"I was thinking that we should go downstairs and tell everyone that we need to fly back."

"I hate when you're right." I mutter. We troop downstairs, bracing ourselves for what we have to do. Even though I've only known them for less than a week, I already feel like they are my true family. They are all gathered at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. Dimitri and I exchange a glance, and then he starts.

"Everyone, we need to inform you of a very disappointing fact." Everyone looks up, and gives all their attention to Dimitri. "We are needed back at Court. The Strigoi attack lost us a lot of Guardians, and they are sending a jet for Rose and me."

Chaos erupts. Everyone has a different opinion about this. Even Paul is voicing an opinion. Only Yeva is silent. Once everyone is quiet, she speaks up. "I have a solution. We can go over with them. They were planning to stay with us, so why don't we go over and make sure that they are fine, visit with them for a bit, and then we will leave. That way, they will be able to see us for a while longer." She sits back, content with herself. Everyone is surprised that she would talk so much, and on our behalf, since she has been avoiding me since I got here. Also, apparently, no one thought of that solution.

Then I have an idea. "I would love that, but what if you all just stayed at Court? It's big enough that there will be plenty of room for you guys, along with the flood of royals." Dimitri smiles as I say this. I can tell he loves the idea of getting to spend more time with his family.

While they think about it, I sit down to eat. Dimitri follows suit. After breakfast, it seems that everyone is in agreement on what to do regarding the trip to Court. Olena speaks up. "I think we have come to a decision. We would all love to travel to Court with you two. We still want to get to know you, Roza."

"That's great. I'll have to go call and tell them to send a bigger jet." I run upstairs and grab my cell. When I have explained to the guardian who picks up, they comply, and set up a larger jet.

Everyone spend the rest of the day packing. Olena came in and told us that she called Viktoria, and she will be coming too. Dimitri and I take a lot less time since we don't have our entire closets here. When we have packed everything except what we will wear tonight and tomorrow, Dimitri suddenly changes the subject from our wedding to something completely different. "I was going to surprise you with a visit to some old friends of the family tomorrow, but would you like to go today instead?"

"Why do you think that this visit would be worth a surprise when you know I hate being surprised?"

"If we are still going, you still need to be surprised." He replies evenly.

I consider trying to weasel it out of him, but I decide against it, since I'm pretty sure that if I do, I'll forget why I am doing that, and I won't get to meet these people. If Dimitri thinks that a visit to them merits surprising me, I won't try anything.

"Fine. I guess we can go if nobody needs us to help them." I grumble, still not liking the idea of being surprised even if I do want to meet them.

We set out, and walk for a long time. "How much longer, Comrade?" I ask, not trying to whine, but not wanting to walk for another mile.

"Why? Tired already?" he teases.

"No!" I say indignantly. "I just don't feel like walking for another mile."

"It's just another few minutes." He states, shaking his head. We walk in silence for those few minutes, until I see a small house. I point it out. "Is that where we are going?"

He follows my finger and nods. We arrive, and he knocks on the door. We hear someone coming, and I try to figure out just who it might be. The door opens, and a middle aged woman is there. She asks something in Russian, I assume it was about me since she was gesturing to me. Again, I feel the need to learn Russian. I think I'll ask him to teach me later. Dimitri answers in English. "This is my fiancée, Roza." She immediately switches to English. "Hello, Roza. My name is Oksana." Then a man comes to the door and puts his arm around her. "And this is my husband, Mark. Mark, this is Roza." She states, and invites us in.

I wave. "Hello." Then I notice something odd. The only reason I didn't notice before is because it's just so out of the ordinary for us. "You… you're…"

"So I take it you didn't tell her about us?" Oksana asks Dimitri. He just smiles and shakes his head.

"I wanted to surprise her." he takes Oksana aside and talks to her. They come back, and Oksana says "Yes, Roza. I am Moroi, and Mark is Dhampir."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

She interrupts, saying "Roza. It's fine." She laughs. "I know how unusual it is."

"But still. I mean, I don't have any room to judge." I say, looking lovingly to Dimitri, whose arm is around my waist. He smiles, and tightens his arm around me.

Just then Oksana stands up and announces "How about I go and get us something to eat?" and then leaves before Dimitri or I can protest, which Dimitri always does. Although, he makes no move to, so now I'm confused.

"Not those. How about the black bread?" now I am even more confused, because when Mark said that, he was looking at me and Dimitri, and the kitchen is behind him. It's almost like… what happens to me and Lissa! "Um, Oksana, what did you specialize in?" I ask hesitantly, hoping the answer is either Spirit or she didn't.

She turns around and smiles at me. "Why would you ask that?" she asks sweetly. Possibly innocently as well.

I turn away, muttering "Never mind. It's stupid." But Dimitri looks at me and nods, like he knows what I was going to ask, and didn't think it was stupid at all. So I continue, because Dimitri knows how much I want to find another Spirit user. "Oksana, did you specialize in Spirit?" I ask, preparing for her to ask what the heck Spirit was. But instead, I get another answer.

"Yes." She says simply as she walks in with the bread and sits next to Mark. I just sit there and stare at them. It takes me a few minutes to process this, but when I do, I freak out.

"You mean to tell me that you are shadow-kissed!" I demand of Mark.

"Yes." They say at the same time. They look at each other and smile. I calm down and sit again. I hadn't even noticed that I got up. I guess I was so shocked that I didn't pay attention to what I was doing.

"But… you don't seem to be suffering from Spirit's side effects. Either of you. How is that possible?"

"Doesn't the Princess charm something for you?" Oksana asks incredulously.

"No. we never thought of that. I guess we should have, since every other Moroi can. I mean, it is an element."

"Well then give me your ring, Roza. You are really going to need it in the coming months." Oksana says as she holds her hand out to me.

"What do you mean by that?" Dimitri asks. I guess he is just as confused as me by her statement.

But Oksana just shakes her head. "You'll find out soon enough." She says mysteriously.

Before I have the chance to give her the ring, however, Mark pulls her aside and asks her something. She nods, and gives him a light kiss. They come back, and she asks for my ring again.

I reluctantly take off my engagement ring, and give it to her. The minute that it's off, I feel naked. I must not have been this used to the ring when I was still at the academy, since I don't remember feeling like this then, which is the only other time I've had it off. Was it really only last week that I was graduating? While I'm reflecting on that, Mark and Oksana leave the room. "You know, I don't think I like it when you don't have your ring on." Dimitri teases.

I turn to him and give him a light kiss. I break away before it can go any further than a peck like I know it would have. "According to Oksana, I will need it soon. I don't know what will happen the is any worse than what is going on now, but if a Spirit user who can probably read auras says I will need it, I'm going to trust her opinion. Even though I don't like have it off any more than you do."

"Hmm. Do you remember our first training session?"

"Yeah, of course. I was really pissed at you for making me run laps." I laugh.

"Of course you were Rose. You never know what is good for you." he teases.

"Yes I do." I say defiantly. "I chose you, didn't I?"

"Yes Roza, I guess you do know what is good for you at times."

We talk for a few more minutes, mostly about our trainings, until Mark comes back in by himself. "Here you go, Roza." He says, holding out my ring for me. He sounds really tired.

"Where's Oksana?" I ask as I out my ring back on. Once it's on, I feel the calmness I feel when getting healed. I feel so much better. I didn't even notice that the darkness was about to make me snap if one more thing went wrong.

"After she charms something, she is always really tired. I made her rest, seeing as she put more into it than she usually does."

"Why did she do that?" Dimitri asks.

"It has to do with what she was talking about earlier."

"But what exactly is that?" both Dimitri and I ask in unison.

Mark smiles, saying "I don't want to be the one to tell you. But I can tell you that it won't be a bad thing."

"Well that's good. At least I don't have to worry about anything happening to Dimitri." I say lovingly.

"Nor do I have to worry about my Roza." He says, kissing me. When we break apart, I look to Mark and I can tell that he is either uncomfortable, tired, or both. Dimitri notices too, and says goodbye. Mark asks us to tell everyone hello for him, and we agree.

When we have been walking for a few minutes, he turns to me. "When you out your ring back on, you looked like you were much calmer than before. Why didn't you tell me that it was worse?"

_Oh, crap. I was hoping he wouldn't notice. Oh well. _"To tell you the truth, I really didn't notice it myself. But when I put it on, I realized that if one more thing went wrong, I would have broken down."

"Oh, Roza. You really need to notice these things. If something does go wrong, and you snap, we need to be prepared."

"I know." I lean onto his chest as I say this. He cradles me in his arms for a while. I don't know how long it was, but I wanted to continue being with him forever. The silence between us is broken when my phone rings. I sigh, looking at the number. I don't recognize it, but answer anyway. "Guardian Hathaway."

"Hello, Rose." Says a very familiar, and very unwanted female voice.

"Mom?" I ask incredulously.

"Yes, Rose." It sounded like she thought I was stupid. "I called to tell you that I will be at Court with your father tomorrow, and we would like to talk to you and Guardian Belikov." She states bluntly.

For a few seconds I can't respond. I knew that they would want to talk to us sometime, but I didn't even think that she would be at Court during this whole thing. "Yeah… sure."

She tells me she will talk to us tomorrow, and will come and find us if we hide, so I shouldn't. Yeah right. Then she hangs up. "Love you to, Mom." I mutter.

"What was that about?" Dimitri asks worriedly.

"Oh, nothing. Unless you count my mom calling and basically threatening to beat you up nothing."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." He doubts.

"No, it wasn't." I agree. "She just told me that her and my dad will be at Court tomorrow and want to talk to us as soon as we get there. They will both try to hurt you. And you won't be able to fight off my mobster father."

"I won't need to. I'll take whatever they do to me."

"And why is that?"

"Because they are your parents, and are being protective of you."

"One who never was in my life until graduation and one who never thought to see me unless her charge was near me?" I say skeptically.

"Yes." At this point we reach his family's house. My family's house.

**Wow. I don't have anything to say. How unusual. One thing: I made this chap. extra long for you guys! Oh and another: why do you think Rose needs the ring charmed? Answer this in a review please! If you do, I'll get Dimitri or whoever to give you a kiss! (If only, if only. DIMITRI I LOVE YOU!) But I will tell you if you were close or not.**

**DISCLAIMER: Ugh. I just hate writing these. Which is why I haven't been. Oh well, here goes. I don't own VA or anything in it. Just this awesome plot. That was really hard to write. See ya till next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Arriving at Court

Chapter 9: Court

Everyone is still packing when we enter the house. At least that's what I assume, since no one is downstairs. Except for Paul, who comes running towards us the moment we step in the door. He had been watching one of the shows on some channel that he likes.

"Uncle Dimka! Auntie Roza!" he shouts loud enough for the whole house to hear. I bend down so I can be on his level.

"Hey Paul. Are you done packing?"

"Yes, Auntie Roza. I picked out my own clothes! Momma just watched and told me how much to pack!"

"I'm sure you'll look just as handsome as ever in what you picked." At this he blushes slightly, and both Dimitri and I quietly laugh at this.

"Thank you Auntie Roza." He says shyly.

"You're welcome, Paul." I laugh. "So, are you still going to your friend's house tonight?"

"No. Well… yes. Momma said since we are going to America tomorrow, she doesn't want me to be tired, so I can only stay for a few hours. So when she called Greg's mom, they said I could stay over whenever we get back. And I still get to come over today!"

"That's great. So when are you leaving?" when I say this, I look around and notice that I was so caught up in talking to a mini Dimitri, that I didn't notice my Dimitri leave until now. I turn back to Paul, hoping the conversation won't take much longer so I can talk to Dimitri.

"I am supposed to leave in an hour, but Momma said that she has to pack everything before she can take me." He says in disappointment.

"Well I can take you if you know how to get there." I offer.

"I don't, but Uncle Dimka does!" he shouts.

"Cool. We will leave in an hour after I talk to Dimitri about it." once I say that, he smiles and runs upstairs, probably to tell Karolina that I can take him.

I turn to Dimitri. "Will you come with us to go to Greg's house?"

"Yes, of course. I don't want you to get lost. Or get captured."

At that point Karolina comes down the steps. "Are you sure you guys can take him? I don't want to have to ask you, but I have to pack for myself, Zoya, and look over what Paul packed. Paul really wants to go to his friend's house, but I just don't have time."

"We really don't mind. We both have finished packing, and I love spending time with Paul." I tell her.

"Thank you. He really loves spending time with his friends. He was so sad when I told him I couldn't take him."

Paul comes down with a toy that he likes. "Auntie Roza. Uncle Dimka. I'm ready to go" he calls.

"Alright. Let's go." I tell the guys. We leave, and walk in silence for a while. Then Paul starts to dance to something. "What are you dancing to Paul?"

He looks at me embarrassed. "Uh. I was dancing to this song that I heard the other day. It's stuck in my head."

"What song is it?" Dimitri asks.

"I don't really know. But I know how it goes. I can sing it for you!" Paul offers.

"I would love to hear you sing!" I say. He starts singing. **(I don't know what he would listen to. Make up a song!)** Dimitri starts dancing all over the place, and Paul is having a hard time continuing to sing since Dimitri is being so funny. I'm not even trying to hold in my laughter. I run over to Paul and grab his hand. "Keep singing!" I say as I start dancing with him. He switches to another song, and the three of us dance our way to his friend's house. We got a lot of strange looks, but we kept on dancing.

After about ten minutes, we arrive at his friend's house. Dimitri knocks on the door, and a woman answers. When she sees Dimitri, she starts talking really fast in Russian. The only thing I recognize is Dimitri's name.

"Hello, Anya. I didn't know you were Greg's mom." Dimitri switches the conversation to English. She gets the hint and also talks in English.

"So I know Dimitri, and Paul, but I don't know you." she says as she finally recognizes that I'm here. I look to Dimitri to introduce me to this lady.

"Anya, this is my fiancée, Rose Hathaway." Dimitri says proudly, putting his arm around my waist. I wave at Anya, and she acts pleasant, but I can't help but notice the fleeting look in her eyes. It seems that someone is a little jealous. I pretend not to notice, and talk to her while Paul and his friend run off.

"Do you think someone can come and pick Paul up at 7? We have a family thing later. It came up last minute." She says apologetically.

"Don't worry. We can come then." Dimitri answers. We exchange the usual farewells, and leave. After Dimitri and I have been walking for a few minutes, I start to think about how much fun it was just to dance and not worry about anything. Dimitri never acts like that. Or… he does, but only around Paul. I can tell he wants kids really badly. And I can't give them to him. "Roza? What's wrong?" Dimitri's voice breaks into my thoughts. I shake my head, not wanting to answer. "Rose, you're crying. Now what's wrong?" I reach up to touch my face, and sure enough my hand comes away wet.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about what Lissa and I used to do, how much we hung out. We never get to do that anymore." I try passing off the lie, but Dimitri picks up on it right away.

"Roza, I know that isn't what you were thinking about." He chastises. "I would like to help you if I can. But I can only do that if you tell me what is wrong."

"You can't help me with it." I whisper so quietly that I can barely hear myself. But he hears, and confronts me about it.

"We'll never know if you don't tell me. Maybe I have a secret talent." He tries to lighten my mood, but it doesn't work, since my smile comes out as a grimace.

"It's not about your ability to do something. It has to do with the both of us."

"What is-" Dimitri starts, but then he interrupts himself. "Oh. Were you thinking about wanting children?" he asks hesitantly, sadly.

"Kind of. I never really wanted kids, but I know you do, and you would be a great dad, and you love being around Paul and Zoya. They always make you smile. Tasha offered for you to be her Guardian and have kids with her." by the end of my speech, I'm crying.

He pulls me into his arms, murmuring in Russian. I may have no idea what he's saying, but the tone of his voice is soothing. Then he switches to English. "I love Tasha as a friend, nothing more. If I had accepted her offer, I would have always been thinking about you, and I wouldn't be happy. I can never be happy without you, my Roza."

I look up to meet his eyes. "And I can never be without you, Dimitri. I love you."

"I love you too, Roza. What do you think we should do for the two hours until we have to get Paul?"

"I can think of some things to do." I say suggestively. "Maybe we could go somewhere private and-" Dimitri cuts me off.

"No, Roza, later. For now, I was thinking I could show you my favorite places to go from when I was a kid."

"Hmm. Alright. Let's go."

The two hours until we have to pick up Paul fly by. Dimitri, true to his word, shows me every place he frequented when he was little. A park, a movie theater (we didn't actually see a movie), even the academy he attended. He checks his phone for the time, and gasps. "We really need to head back for Paul. It's almost 7, and we don't want to have Greg's mom angry."

"Alright. We can go back, but only if we can spend some more time alone together later." He agrees, but I really don't think he means it, although I don't call him out on it, and we head back. When we reach the house, Paul is waiting by the door. I guess they really do have someplace to be, if he is willing to leave. Whenever I was with Lissa when we were younger, and they told me to leave because of curfew, I would freak out and run around, looking for a place to hide. They always caught me, though.

As we leave, I look around and notice a doughnut shop not far from here. _I've been deprived for DAYS! I need a doughnut. _Dimitri notices what I'm staring at, and chuckles. "We can go to the doughnut shop, Roza. Stop salivating. That is actually one of the best places around here." I practically jump up and down from excitement.

"YAY! Thank you Dimitri!" I reach up and hug him, remembering that we have an audience.

Today is the day we left for Court. Right now the nine of us are on a plane we have been on since the early morning, human time. The time is around 6 p.m., also human time. The flight should be over soon, so I try not to close my eyes.

When we land, I get out of the plane as soon as I can. I run up to the door the second the pilot announces we can exit. I feel warm, strong arms wrap around my waist.

I turn around to face Dimitri and joke, "I don't know why, but I hate airplanes now. I will never board one again."

He laughs and supplies me with a reason. "I think it has to do with the fact that you flew halfway around the world twice in one week."

"It really has only been a week since I graduated, hasn't it?" I ask, suddenly realizing this fact. What with everything that's been happening, I lost track of time.

"Yes, Roza. It's only been a week since you graduated, and I have enjoyed almost every minute of it." We both flinch, knowing what event he is referring to. "For one," he continues, "we don't have to hide anymore." With that, he leans down to kiss me in front of everyone. We break away after a few moments to find everyone who is near where we are staring at us. I wave to them, and they rapidly disperse. Dimitri chuckles under his breath, while I am barely able to contain my laughter.

Viktoria runs up to us, saying "I will be content to stay here if it means I will never have to fly again. That was the most I ever want to fly in my lifetime."

"That's what I thought but I couldn't stay away from beautiful Russia. A month later, I wanted to go home." Dimitri warns.

"Well, that is not gonna happen to me. Every time I want to go back, I will think of this day, and I will stay here. In America."

"I don't know if I can even stay here after I've been in Russia and seen how wrong I was about it being an arctic wasteland."

"You thought it was an arctic wasteland?" Viktoria asks incredulously. I nod. She then turns on Dimitri. "Why didn't you disband her ideas a while ago?"

"I tried. She is just way to stubborn for her own good." He shakes his head in fake exasperation.

"Come on Comrade. You might now want to continue on that train of thought or you might be alone tonight."

He pretends to be scared and begs me not to. "Whoa. Never thought I would see the day Dimitri Belikov is reduced to begging." Says a very annoying voice.

"Adrian. How very nice to see you." I say sarcastically. He feigns looking hurt, putting a hand over his heart. Dimitri tells me he has to guide his family, and they will catch up to us in a minute. I smile, and give him a light kiss. He stays for a moment, then walks off to gather his-our family.

"How could you Rose? After everything we've been through."

"We haven't been through anything, Ivashkov." I reply.

At this Viktoria gasps. "Roza! How could you talk to a royal Moroi like that?"

Adrian smirks and repeats "Yes, _Roza._ How _could _you talk to _me_ like that?"

"Oh shut up and quit mocking Viktoria."

"Viktoria, is it? What a lovely name." he grabs her hand and kisses her knuckles. "I'm guessing you are Belikov's sister?" I shoot a glance at Viktoria that says: _you better not fall for him. He is a womanizing drunk. _I don't know if she gets it all, but I'm sure she gets the gist of it.

"Yeah… how did you know?"

"You look exactly like him." He then turns toward me. "So will you introduce me to everyone else?" he asks as he gestures behind me to Dimitri and his – OUR family, which has caught up to Viktoria and I. I sigh.

"I guess. This is Olena Belikova; Sonya Belikova; Karolina Belikova; Paul, her son; Zoya, her daughter; and Yeva Belikova." I point to each person as I say their name. "Everyone, this is Adrian Ivashkov." I point to him. Everyone plans to bow and everything, when he stops them.

"I hate when people pretend I'm better than they are. Just because I have a royal name doesn't mean that I act royal."

They ignore him and continue to bow. When Olena notices Dimitri not respecting a royal, she scolds him. "Dimitri Belikov! When you are around a royal you will treat them as such and respect them." He hurries to obey his mother, and I can't help but laugh at seeing a six-foot-something man who is not afraid of Strigoi afraid of his mom. Apparently Adrian finds it funny too, because he laughs uncontrollably at Dimitri.

My fiancé quickly pulls up and glares at Adrian. The Moroi cowers behind me, looking for protection from a pissed Russian. Like always, he is very intimidating, with his height and muscles. I just laugh and dance away, not letting Adrian hide behind me. He figures this out, and glares at me. I smile back to him, and turn to Viktoria, who has been laughing the whole time. I pretend to talk to her, but I really am listening for what Dimitri does to Adrian. Viktoria knows this, and doesn't mind that I barely hear her and probably answer the wrong questions. Fortunately, Dimitri doesn't attack Adrian, and I can calm down. It would not be good if my fiancé was put in jail.

**Hey y'all. I've been thinking, and I need a beta reader. Whenever I have a problem with the story, I have to explain the situation to one of my friends, and it rarely works, resulting in a long pause in the story that I know you hate. I do too! So, I need a beta! People, I also need some ideas for one-shots. I really want to write one, and I have some ideas, but no good ones. Tell me something you want me to write about, and I just might. It will even be dedicated to you! I also have an idea for an actual story, but I don't know if I will write it. if I do, it won't be until I finish one of my current stories. Now on to other things: I need y'all to review! I have over 5 thousand readers, but 49 reviews! I know you can do better than that. I promise you that until I see a number 60 under reviews, I will not update. And with the rate that I get reviews, that won't be for over a month. At least. So if you like my story and don't want it to be on unofficial hiatus from you guys, REVIEW.**


	10. Chapter 10: Meetings

Chapter 10: Meetings

Dimitri and I spend the rest of the day avoiding my parents. Well- I was avoiding them, and dragging him along. Dimitri, being his noble self, isn't afraid to see them and accept the consequences, but I am not ready to lose him yet. Which will most likely happen, since their personalities are both violent, and even though I don't know either that well, I know they won't hesitate to hurt him. We've been walking around Court all day, just enjoying the other's presence. Dimitri keeps saying that we should just get the visit over with, and I always reply with something like: "No. I don't want you to get in trouble for nothing".

"Dimitri, I know you aren't afraid to take the consequences, but I know my mom somewhat, and she will be pissed. Also, from what I've heard of my dad, and what you have heard of him, he won't be reluctant to put you in the hospital." I say after Dimitri brings it up for the umpteenth time.

"I know, Rose. But they are still your parents, even if they haven't showed it much. You are seven years younger than me; we hid our relationship from everyone, including your mom, so they will probably not be very happy with me."

"Yes, but since when did they even care about me?" I demand. "I only ever saw my mom once every year or two, and didn't even know my dad until I graduated!"

"Fair enough, but now they want to be a part of your life, and I think you should at least give them a chance."

I sigh in reluctant agreement. "How about a compromise. We can go see them tomorrow, if you stop nagging me about it." I offer.

"Sure, Rose." He agrees, then changes to a random topic. The conversation continues as we walk into a building that houses bars, restaurants, offices, and a coffee shop, until I realize I'm hungry.

"I'm hungry, Comrade. Can we stop at the coffee shop?" as soon as I say this, my stomach growls, emphasizing my words. Dimitri chuckles and it looks like he is going to say something, but then changes his mind and replies with "No, we can't Roza. We need to see your parents."

"But, Dimitri, we had a-" he cuts my protest off.

"We need to see them today." With that, he walks away.

I stand there for a minute, thinking about what I should do. I decide to see if he will come back, so I walk in the opposite direction of him – towards the coffee shop. When I'm about a quarter of the way there, I stop to see if Dimitri is following me. He is, although he is about where I started. I wait until he thinks he can catch up to me to move. Judging by the look of victory on his right now, my time has come. I turn around and start running. Luckily, no one is in the hallway, so nobody will see us running. Not that I would mind, but it isn't very professional for two Guardians to run around like we don't have a care in the world. I hear his footsteps speeding up behind me, so I start running faster. By the time we get across the building to the coffee shop, I am running almost as fast as I can. Of course Dimitri could've caught up with me if he wanted to, but he was having just as much fun as I was, and didn't. When get a few feet from the doorway, I stop. Approximately thirty seconds later, Dimitri runs up behind me and picks me up. He puts his mouth right next to my ear and whispers "gotcha." His voice makes me shiver.

Still carrying me, he walks into the little coffee shop. While Dimitri is doing this, I'm trying to get out of his grip, but laughing while doing so, which means my escape attempts aren't working very well. When we enter, everyone stops what they were doing - except for two people who seem to be in their own little world – to stare at us. I guess we would be a strange sight to others who don't know about us yet since we both are badass Guardians who shouldn't ever let loose, according to many Moroi. Oh yeah, there's also the fact that Dimitri was my mentor less than two weeks ago. That would be weird to some people. So, being me with my attitude, I just smirk at them and give a wave.

Finally the two people brake out of their world, probably noticing the silence. They turn to us, and gasp along with me. Dimitri looks surprised as well. I've stopped struggling against him, but his grip and I slide out. In the months leading up to graduation, Dimitri had started hanging out with everyone a lot more. Him, Eddie and Christian had gotten close and started to have guy nights without us girls. I run over to them, shouting "Edison Castile! What the hell do you think you are doing?" God I sound like his mother! Dimitri wraps his arms around me to stop me from attacking him for not telling me about it.

"What's up, Rose?" one of my best friends, Eddie Castile asks nervously. Mia then reaches for his hand to calm him down.

"When did you start dating Mia? Tell me everything." I've now calmed down, and I ask him this instead of yelling at him like I want to.

They make a perfect couple. Eddie, with his quiet attentiveness and Mia's fierce determination. I guess opposites really do attract. But I already knew this.

"I had started to have feelings for Mia before she came to Court. Basically ever since we came back from Spokane." We all shiver at the thought of what happened in Spokane. "Apparently, she had had feelings for me too. When the school came out here, I began trying to work up the nerve to ask her out. Turns out, I didn't have to, since a day later; Mia here came up to me and asked me on a date. Of course, I was relieved that she likes me, and readily agreed. Ever since then, we've been together." Eddie smiles as he tells us this story.

"Aww." I sigh. "Mia, good job with putting yourself out there."

"Thanks Rose. You know, when you walked in, what with your exclamation, I thought you wouldn't approve."

"I was just surprised. And," at this I turn to Eddie. "Dimitri didn't have a clue either. I thought you were friends."

Now Dimitri jumps into the conversation. "Yeah Eddie. Why didn't you tell me or Christian at least?"

"Well, I wasn't sure how you guys would react. I know y'all used to have some problems, and I didn't know if everyone had gotten over those problems and would accept her. And it's not like I knew she liked me or not. I didn't want to say until I knew."

Dimitri and Eddie continue talking while I turn to Mia. "So, what have you been doing, apart from Eddie?"

I know it's hard to believe, if you know our history, but now Mia and I are friends. Even though she used to hate Lissa – and by default, me – she has changed for the better. We all changed -those of us who were in Spokane. If one of us hadn't, I would call them crazy.

She blushes bright red, but pretends to ignore my comment. "Not much of anything." She looks around nervously. "I've been training. I made friends with some of the Guardians here, and they've been teaching me how to fight. I bet I could even win against you!" she jokes.

"I doubt that. But we'll just have to test that theory out, won't we?" I laugh as I say this.

"Yeah, we will. Oh, and I've been practicing with my magic. Remember how I always wanted to learn? Well, I found another water user, who also wants to defend herself, and we've been practicing together."

"Wow. You've done all this, and you haven't been found out by the queen?" I ask incredulously."

"She doesn't pay attention to people like me." Mia says sadly. Then she turns curious. "Speaking of not being found out by the queen, when did you and Dimitri get together? You act like you've been for a while. And weren't you just with him in Russia?"

"Yes, I was. I was visiting his family. So yes, we've been together since, well, sometime during school. If you want to hear the full story, we'll tell you later."

"Sure." Then we quiet for a minute and hear the guys talking quietly about something.

"So did you ask her?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah. And she said yes!" Dimitri all but shouts in glee. Immediately, I know what they're talking about, but Mia looks a bit confused.

"Why are you both smiling like that?" she asks me and Dimitri. "Unless it has something to do with you both."

They both look over at us after it's obvious that she wants them paying attention. "So… it actually does. He proposed!" I tell her excitedly.

"Really?" she asks in shock.

"Yeah, he did!" I reply gleefully.

"OHMYGOD!" I knew once y'all told me you were together that it was only a matter of time! When is the wedding? Have you found your dress yet?"

Dimitri and Eddie realize they were only needed for that little bit of the conversation, and continue with their previous conversation, from before the talk of the wedding started. I wonder where we will spend our honeymoon. Maybe we'll go to Australia. Maybe we will go to Paris… the city of love. No, that would be to cliché. Oh, I got it. We can go to Tokyo! I always wanted to go there. Even though it probably won't matter, since we'll be holed up in our hotel room most all of the time. Yeah, that would be the best choice…

"Wait... what?" I ask Mia, snapping out of my daydream and remembering that there was a question asked of me.

She laughs at me, and repeats herself. "I asked: have you set a date for the wedding? And a have you picked out your dress yet?"

"No, I haven't picked out a dress and again, no, we gave not picked a date yet. He just proposed after graduation."

"Ok… good. Have you done anything about your wedding yet?"

"No. Not yet."

"Good, because if you had, then I would have to kill you both for not including me!

"Yeah, well…" we continue talking for a while, until everyone finishes their coffee and such. We all say goodbye, and I hug the both of them, having missed them and not had enough time to catch up with them.

"Mia, we need to see how far you've come with your fighting sometime."

"Yeah, we do. How about Saturday?"

"Sure, meet me at the gym at five a.m. (Moroi time) so nobody is around."

"Kay, see you then." And we part, going our separate ways.

Dimitri and I are just about to leave the building when my cell phone rings. I look at the i.d. and groan. It's my mom. I reluctantly answer it, knowing that she is beyond pissed. "Hello?" I ask hesitantly.

"Rosemarie Hathaway! I know you have been avoiding me and your father! Get your little arse down here along with your little fiancé's too! Or we will can and forcibly drag you where no one can hear…" first she spits on fiancé like it's a dirty word and then she threatens us? I don't think so!

"I don't see why you would even care where we are! You never have given a damn any other time in my life! Is it because you don't approve of him being Dhamipr? Or maybe you want me with Adrian, seeing as he's soo much better for me than him? I really don't care about either, because you have no right to meddle in my life and I love him! I know you don't know what that feels like, but I know if you did know, you wouldn't listen to anyone telling you he wasn't good for you!"

"Shut up Rose! You don't talk to me like that! And just so you know, I have felt the repercussions of being in love with someone entirely unsuitable for me in the eyes of everyone else! I know how it feels, but Dimitri took advantage of you, and he just wants to play with you, since he's so much older than you. He doesn't care about you, Rose." With this last sentence her voice sounds a lot more caring, but I still don't believe that she is just looking out for me.

"Yeah? You don't even know him. You would respect him if we weren't together! That is the only reason you don't like him! And why in hell was your relationship with Dad anywhere near as hard as my relationship? He is a Moroi, you are a Dhampir! How is that hard? If you can tell me that, then you wouldn't have a problem with Dimitri!"

"Just get your ass over here! And your little fiancé's too!" she shouts through the phone.

"What the hell are you? The Wicked Witch of the West? You know, that would be fitting, since I learned that L. Frank Baum - and don't be surprised that I know his name, which is just another thing you didn't know about me - actually wrote that she was supposed to have kids, but once she had them, she couldn't care less, and therefore she left them up for adoption. Sound familiar?"

"Oh just shut the hell up and get your asses over to your father's. Now!"

At this point Dimitri intervenes, gently taking the phone from me before I can make the situation any worse.

He talks to her for a few minutes, presumably telling her that we would be there soon, but I wasn't paying attention. I had this sudden urge to hit something really hard, but there was nothing and nobody around except for Dimitri and a tree. I had enough sense not to hit Dimitri, so I spun around and slammed my fist into the bark. "Ugh! Why does she have to do this? If what she claims is true, then why can't she just let it go?" yeah, I know that it's the darkness, which is why I'm trying not do hurt much else. For once it's not enough of a blowup that I can't control it.

"Rose, you know that she just wants what's best for you. She doesn't mean to upset you, she's just protecting you." He says cautiously, knowing that I'm just a few problems away from exploding.

"She has no right! That-" Dimitri, knowing me and knowing what I was going to say, cuts me off with a stern "Rose."

"Can I not express my opinions?"

"You can, but only if they are pleasant. You know what they say, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

"You and your Zen life lessons." I mutter barely loud enough for him to hear.

He chuckles, and replies "That's why you love me."

"Who told you I love you?" I tease.

"You did. A since you know it's true, you can't deny the fact."

"Shush up. Don't let your ego get the best of you."

"I won't. But only as long as you help me with that."

"Sure." I tell him.

We continue with our walk to my father's apartment in a comfortable silence. I thought about my parents reaction, while Dimitri thought about - well, I don't know exactly what.

We finally arrive at my dad's place, but pause outside, before someone knocks.

"Dimitri, are you ready to get your ass kicked?" I ask.

"Rose, I know you are worried about what they will do to me, but I also know that you shouldn't be. You know I can handle myself."

"I guess so… maybe I am just overreacting." I admit, and then Dimitri puts on a half smile, wraps one of his arms around my waist, and kisses my forehead lightly.

I raise my hand to knock, and somehow follow through with the motion. A few minutes go by, and all I can hear is a slight shuffling from inside. "Maybe they aren't here. Maybe they gave us the wrong-" and with that my hopes - which I knew were useless anyway - are crushed. The reason being that my dad opens the door, with my mom glaring and crossing her arms as she stands behind him.

"Well?" I ask her.

"Well what?" she shoots back, knowing perfectly well what the "well" is.

"You need to apologize to us."

Well this isn't what she was expecting at all. I can see this much in her facial expression. She just proves it when she stutters a "W-what?"

"I said," I begin, talking slowly as if she were stupid (which she is). "That you, and my dad, need to apologize. To me, and to Dimitri."

She takes offense in my tone and my words, and when she replies, her voice is on the verge of being a shout. "What do we need to apologize for? We are just being parents!"

That just pissed me off even more. "Parents? Your acting like parents? What do you know about being parents." I say this last part in a low voice. "You," I jab my finger at my mother, "were never there for me! You only visited every few years, when your charge was visiting! And you!" with this my finger that was jabbed at Janine is now pointing towards my dad. "I never even knew you until I graduated! High school, not middle school. Did you even know I existed? Or did Janine tell you and then you ran off like the stupid Moroi men always do?" yeah, I know that was a low blow, but I am too pissed to care.

"Rosemarie Hathaway! You do not talk to your father OR me like that, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am. What ever you say ma'am." I reply with nearly as much sarcasm as I can muster.

"Just shut up!" my dad had to shout this to be heard over my mom and my arguing.

"Fine." I huff. I grab Dimitri's hand and storm into the apartment.

My dad and mom talked in hushed tones for a few minutes, and then enter the living room, where Dimitri and I are seated on the couch.

My mother's arms are still crossed, and she has a glare that, from what I've seen, is reserved for the you-disappoint-me-and-I'm-unable-to-do-anything-about-it times.

Everyone in the room knows that she can't talk to me without screaming, and my dad told her to try not to. So, Abe starts for her.

"Rosemarie, can you tell us how this happened? If we know, then we might let up. Might being the key word."

"No. All you need to know is that I love him and he loves me. We tried to ignore our feelings for each other, but we couldn't."

"Yes, I can see that. But still. You had no right to do this."

"Didn't you hear me?" I tell him, trying to keep from shouting. "It's not our fault. We tried not to fall in love, but you can't help it when you do. You can't choose when and with who."

"She's right, Ibrahim. I tried, so did Rose. But age is just a number. We love each other, and that's all there is to it." Dimitri interjects.

My dad is smiling. "Oh, I know the feeling. I also know what it feels like to love someone and have everyone disapprove of your relationship. I'm sorry, we shouldn't have been like we were."

"It's o-" I get cut off by my mother.

"How in the heck can you say that Ibrahim? They have an illegal relationship that nobody knew about! He is seven years older than her! She was his student when they got together!"

"I know, but they love each other and we shouldn't come between that. Especially since we haven't ever been there for her, we can't tell her what to do. But," my dad says as he turns to Dimitri. "If you hurt my daughter in any way, if you cause her one speck of pain, I will kick your ass into next week. Then I will get my guardians to make your life a living hell. Do you hear me?"

"Y-yes, sir. But you don't need to worry. I won't hurt my Rose. Its impossible. I'm not able to."

"Good. Now I want for you guys to go before Janine here hurts you."

"We can do that!" I say, since I wanted to get this over with since we got here. I jump up and run out if the apartment, pulling Dimitri along with me.

**Sorry guys! But it is your fault for not reviewing! And sorry for the horribleness of this chapter, but I had writers block and couldn't think of how I wanted to write what I wanted to write. Anyways, I need at least 70 reviews before I post again. That's only six! I think. I know you can do better than that! OHH! Questions! Do you guys have anything you want me to add to this story? If it will fit, I'll try to fit it in! And do you think Christian and Adrian would make a good gay couple? I think they would be so cute together!**

**(Hey - my friend made me think of it!)**

**Y'all know that I get jealous when I see a story with less chapters than mine and at lest double of not triple the reviews! Y'all can help me wig that by reviewing! Please!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own VA, but I own Chris! Wait... That's a no... Again. Dern it! **


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